The trajectory seemed to be that of an object that entered and exited the atmosphere and not of something that fell to earth because it did not appear to be falling down but rather passing by. The way it disappeared into the sky looked like something out of a movie as it appeared to be swallowed into a hole and the bright glow quickly faded from the size of a dime to a bright speck to nothing in less than a second. For a split second after it was gone there was a slight halo effect at the spot where it vanished. I have seen shooting stars and meteor showers but nothing of this size and nothing this close.
Location
Address
Roanoke Rapids, NC
Latitude
36° 29' 3.28'' N (36.484245°)
Longitude
77° 36' 11.89'' W (-77.603302°)
Elevation
-
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2012-02-03 22:15 EST
UT Date & Time
2012-02-04 03:15 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up to down
Descent Angle
180°
Moving
Facing azimuth
30.06788°
First azimuth
30.96334°
First elevation
61°
Last azimuth
15.20768°
Last elevation
40°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-13
Color
Mostly green, some white
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
I was driving an automobile at highway speed with music playing so I could not hear any sound at all from the object.
Persistent train
Observation
Unknown
Duration
-1s
Length
-1°
Remarks
it looked like sparks flying off a spinning object with some pieces coming off in chunks. The color was mostly green but changed to white as the object appeared to rotate, affecting the color of the fireball and trailing sparks...
Terminal flash
Observation
No
Remarks
The object appeared to be spinning from right to left or clockwise from my perspective and as it spun the color would change from green to white and the trailing sparks would vary from larger chunks to fine sparks.
