Wow, very interesting article.  Thanks! Mike.

 

There is another object, a man-made one, that performs the same trick.  Dubbed J002E3, it is really the 3rd-stage booster section of the Saturn V that contained the lunar lander of Apollo 12 back in 1969.  After command module docking and separation, that stage of the Saturn V was supposed to fire its remaining fuel and head for a crash ending on the lunar surface, or, eject from the Earth-moon system altogether and spiral inward toward the Sun.

 

Apollo 12's stage-3 misfired and headed into a high orbit around the Earth-moon system.  It eventually ejected, and after lapping the Earth in its own orbit for over 30 years, it was briefly recaptured in 2002.  Astronomers confirmed that J002E3 was man-made by the spectrum of its Titanium oxide (TiO) paint.  It's since left us and is slowly lapping us once more.

 

Cheers everyone,

Bill sends