As I sid, I am 53 and I have never seen anything like this. It reminded me of that Russian incident. Very similar to that with explosions and puffs of smoke. Unfortunately my date of observance is approximate. Also many other people had to have seen it. I was in my car heading due north.
Location
Address
Cumberland, RI
Latitude
41° 56' 50.03'' N (41.94723°)
Longitude
71° 26' 21.27'' W (-71.439241°)
Elevation
46.644974m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2020-12-16 03:00 EDT
UT Date & Time
2020-12-16 07:00 UT
Duration
≈7.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up left to down right
Descent Angle
93°
Moving
Facing azimuth
-
First azimuth
294.16°
First elevation
45°
Last azimuth
53.41°
Last elevation
40°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-5
Color
White, and it kind of exploded and left rings of smoke a few times before it left my view
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
8s
Length
35°
Remarks
I wish I knew to report this at the time. I was too amazed to turn on my camera and was afraid I would miss it. It left a train of smoke horizontally across the sky as it was traveling horizontal to the Earths ground heading slightly closer to the ground as it left my field of view. It looked like it exploded a couple times as it was traveling. By my guess it looked like it would be going over Worcestor Mass. Of course it could have been much further away. My date i provided is approximate to some other pictures i took at the time. It kind of reminded me of that meteor that went over Russia several years ago. I heard no sound. Other people must have seen this, I can't be the only one.
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
There were several puffs of smoke as it went from west to east parallel to the earths surface, then seemed to disappear as bit either ended or went so far east that i could no longer see it.
Fragmentation
Observation
Yes
Remarks
I saw two or three explosions as it flew west to east in the northern sky. Again similar to that Russian incident. I really wish i knew to report this. It was day time and I am 53 years old and i have never seen anything like it.
