Anomalous ion line spectra have been identified in many experiments. Such spectra are defined as deviations from the standard symmetric "double-humped" spectra derived from incoherent scatter radar echoes from the upper atmosphere. Some anomalous spectra ? where there are sharp enhancements of power over restricted height ranges ? have been attributed to satellite contamination in the beam path. Here we outline a method for detecting such contamination, and review in detail a few cases where the method enables the identification of anomalous spectra as satellite echoes, subsequently ascribed to specific orbital objects. The methods used here to identify such satellites provide a useful way of distinguishing anomalous spectra due to satellites from those of geophysical origin. Analysis of EISCAT Svalbard Radar data reveals that an average of 8 satellites per hour are found to cross the beam. Based on a relatively small sample of the data set, it appears that at least half of the occurrences of anomalous spectra are caused by satellite contamination rather than being of geophysical origin.