NASA Echo II satellite
This NASA picture of an Echo II satellite, a 135-foot "rigidized balloon satellite" that was put into orbit around the Earth as a passive communications experiment.
Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke spotted a bright object in the sky over New York City one night after working on the script for "2001: A Space Odyssey." During an appearance on the Dick Cavett Show, Clarke recounted the story: "I once saw what I thought was the real thing. Oddly enough it was...