Reports Report 634g (Event 634-2014)

Observer
Name Susan M
Experience Level 3/5
Remarks Object was traveling from the southwest and appeared to be falling northeast towards the horizon well beyond Phoenix, traveling at a very high rate of speed. Witnessed by a second passenger in the vehicle, this fireball was smack in the center of our field of vision as seated in a sedan traveling on the 10. This object must have been HUGE, considering we were at least an hour out from Phoenix - easily a large grapefruit sized in our perspective. It had a very bright white trail that didn't linger beyond a second or two. It wasn't there, then it was, brighter and larger by far than any shooting star I've ever seen - even before the 'burst'. It appeared very close to the horizon from our observation point on the interstate, when the object seemed to burst into an even bigger fireball that originally observed, almost twice as big now, from our perspective now more like a basketball sized object, and burning a hot red and yellow/orange/white before disappearing from sight. Just beautiful. And Amazing.
Location
Address Phoenix, AZ
Latitude 33° 27' 51.9'' N (33.464418°)
Longitude 112° 29' 39.35'' W (-112.494264°)
Elevation 333.435059m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2014-03-06 00:30 MST
UT Date & Time 2014-03-06 07:30 UT
Duration ≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction From up right to down left
Descent Angle 225°
Moving
Facing azimuth 89.1°
First azimuth 88.58°
First elevation 30°
Last azimuth 63.34°
Last elevation 20°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -24
Color Orange, Yellow, Red
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Persistent train
Observation No
Duration -
Length -
Remarks -
Terminal flash
Observation Yes
Remarks falling towards horizon seemed to fizzle, then burst into a brighter fireball
Fragmentation
Observation No
Remarks -