I was at a football game in an elevated position facing south. I only saw this for 2-3 seconds. It had a short tail. It was moving roughly parallel to the horizon on a slight downward track moving south west. It disappeared behind a tree line. It was much slower then a normal meteorite. It was very colorful. I was in a city with urban light conditions. This would have been spectacular in a dark location. I was in a crowd, no one near me saw it. I did hear someone exclaim about it. I\'m a 58 year old experienced star gazer who knows the sky and goes out to watch meteor showers. This is only the 3rd fireball I\'ve seen.
Location
Address
Elkton, MD
Latitude
39° 45' 41.73'' N (39.761591°)
Longitude
75° 33' 10.65'' W (-75.552957°)
Elevation
-
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2012-10-12 20:45 EDT
UT Date & Time
2012-10-13 00:45 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From right to left
Descent Angle
270°
Moving
Facing azimuth
214.78959°
First azimuth
188.03962°
First elevation
36°
Last azimuth
224.0098°
Last elevation
38°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-9
Color
red blue green
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Unknown
Duration
-1s
Length
9°
Remarks
The object was very short for a meteor. The train appeared to have a wide spread. The object had a triangular or conical shape. The outer fringes had color, some green and red. Interior color was blue white. I saw no persistent train as I was in an urban environment.
Terminal flash
Observation
No
Remarks
I believe the rough edged color fringes were fragmentation
