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Remarks |
I have checked a map and would say it was travelling from the southwest (approx Exmouth area) towards northeast. It passed directly above me. If I were to draw a line of travel after Shaftesbury that line would pass over Andover, Reading, Watford, Lowestoft and then towards Copenhagen. Initially I was in an unlit road looking east at a clear and very starry sky. I became aware of a beam of light behind me that suddenly grew brighter and bright enough to cast my shadow on the road! I turned, expecting to see a house light or someone with a bright torch and I was then facing southwest (as shown in the diagram) with this unexplained bright light (noticeably bright green) coming straight towards me and low in the sky (NB Shaftesbury is 210 metres above sea level). It therefore appeared very low in the sky. My immediate thought was it was a plane on fire but there was no noise and it was travelling much faster than any aircraft. It had lit my shadow on the road for some 3 seconds before I turned to face it. I seemed to be bigger than the Moon and almost as big as the Sun in the black sky. I have neck problems and so can't look directly upwards but I pivoted as it passed overhead and vanished almost immediately heading northeast. By then I had guessed it was certainly what I'd describe as "a fireball" but have never seen one before. I was seriously expecting to hear a crash or explosion as it seemed low enough to hit land, but after some 2-3 minutes I heard and saw nothing more. What an amazing experience. I only wish I had seen it approaching those few seconds before to enjoy it more fully! I checked my fitbit and it was 0407GMT/UTC so it passed over Shaftesbury at 0406. |
