Numerous radio amateurs reported to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Laboratory in Cambridge they heard Sputnik III's signal Thursday night as the newest satellite passed west of New England between 9:05 and 9:07 p.m., EDT.

The satellite should have been visible at this time in the area between the Great Lakes and North Carolina, but so far the object could not be clearly seen because of overcast skies.

However, Smithsonian spokesmen said they had received no reliable reports of visual sightings.

Marshall Melin, heading a moonwatch team atop to Harvard Observatory, said several persons there thought they saw the satellite but Melin did not feel they were reliable sightings.

Robert M. Crocker, Maine State House correspondent for the Associated Press at Augusta said he saw Sputnik III at 9:03 to the west of the city.

It was "flashing as if tumbling at intervals of about five seconds," and was of about the brilliance of a bright star, Crocker said.

The Smithsonian said it received numerous reports of sightings from persons who apparently saw airplanes instead. The Smithsonian ruled these out because the direction or the area was wrong.

The new Sputnik was expected to make three sweeps across the United States tonight, from north northwest to south southeast, probably at a height of nearly 1,000 miles.

In its pass over Maine, Sputnik III poured a strong radio signal into the area.