Originally Posted by
N9373M
Single seat? Very unfortunate.
No, two.
I can vouch that it (Venus) was extremely bright during the war (in February, after the weather cleared-up). Most of us had not flown over such uninhabited areas at night. Our 'normal night sky' was where the light of cities washes-out the stars. During the war, I saw astronomical sights I didn't even know could be seen from an airplane. Many aircraft reported in mission-debriefs they had been illuminated by "Iraqi aircraft with searchlights," which were, in fact, merely Venus.
Ten years later, flying eastbound over the Pacific in the 747, I would see Venus ahead, just before dawn. Even though I was 99.99% certain it was Venus, atmospheric debris makes it seem to 'twinkle,' and I would see alternating red, green, and white...so that it appeared to be aircraft position lights or logo/recognition lights.
My point is that it isn't unreasonable this AirCan pilot could mistake Venus for an airplane, even with TCAS correlation. It's happened to many others.