we watched the fireball go across the sky and when it was out of our sight both thought we would see something burning on fire on one of the nearby hills. We were surrounded by hills heading south on the 101, climbing up and around a hill which we both felt was blocking our view of it hitting the ground. Felt as though it was a burning plane because of how bright it was and how close it appeared to the ground
Location
Address
garberville, CA
Latitude
40° 4' 30.66'' N (40.075182°)
Longitude
123° 47' 26.77'' W (-123.79077°)
Elevation
-
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2012-10-17 19:45 PDT
UT Date & Time
2012-10-18 02:45 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up right to down left
Descent Angle
225°
Moving
Facing azimuth
205.80468°
First azimuth
214.69531°
First elevation
60°
Last azimuth
179.04516°
Last elevation
30°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-9
Color
orange, yellow, white, br
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
2s
Length
15°
Remarks
Glowing trail following a large mainly orange/ yellow fireball
Tail was heavy with whites, blues and yellows mixed. Also off the end were pieces of fire trailing off. Largest i have ever witnessed
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
I was looking at the moon which was close to setting. Then saw a flash of bright light as i turned to look at my boyfriend and immediately said oh my gosh look at that. He had already been fixated on it. Watching it turn from a bright flash to a large fireball with a very long tail with fragments of burning coming off the end.
