Their nature has not been determined.
Humankind has been launching orbital craft, from all parts of the world, since 1957.
There are a host of independent operators who track these craft.
There's a satellite industry in most all civilised countries of the world.
You can buy the radio amateur equipment to listen in to transmissions from the ISS as it goes by.
You can hire/buy your own satellite uplink/downlink truck, in pretty much any locale of the world.
You buy a portable satellite rig, such as that used by remote news gathering crews, and buy/rent airtime on comms satellites to transmit whatever you want to a remote location elsewhere.
You can buy tracking telescopes, which can track moving satellites across the sky for you.
You can photograph the geostationary satellites with the most basic consumer-grade cameras.
etc
etc