Fireball report

Reports Report 4018aq (Event 4018-2023)

Observer
Name	Brett S
Experience Level	3/5
Remarks	I'm over age 60. This was the most stunning and wonderful aerial sighting of my life. It's a shame I'd not had my cellphone with me to shoot video. I'm just thrilled that I happened to be facing in the proper direction when it appeared; I'd been taking an evening stroll and was looking downhill toward Bachman Pl. from the elevated plateau of 3rd Ave. at Montecito Point, when the bright fireball appeared from dark sky, swelling into full-size view as it traveled away from me. Then the smaller piece broke off and eventually both sections dimmed and disappeared to the North/NW out over Clairemont (from my perspective). Fantastic experience!

Location
Address	San Diego, CA
Latitude	32° 45' 23.54'' N (32.75654°)
Longitude	117° 9' 44.14'' W (-117.16226°)
Elevation	89.391602m

Time and Duration
Local Date & Time	2023-08-03 20:15 PDT
UT Date & Time	2023-08-04 03:15 UT
Duration	≈7.5s

Direction
Moving direction	From down left to up right
Descent Angle	26°

Moving
Facing azimuth	300.68°
First azimuth	286.35°
First elevation	40°
Last azimuth	304.36°
Last elevation	20°

Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude	-18
Color	Orange, Yellow, Light Yellow, White

Concurrent Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Delayed Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Persistent train
Observation	No
Duration	-
Length	-
Remarks	-

Terminal flash
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Fragmentation
Observation	Yes
Remarks	Duration of total event visibility was close to 10 seconds. About halfway through the sighting, i.e., approx. after 5 secs., a smaller fragment of the fireball broke away from the underside of the larger portion, continuing in same motion of travel but trailing a bit behind. The smaller fragmented section was roughly 1/8th the size of the larger. Both sections continued away from me to the NW of my position (I was looking out over Mission Valley from Montecito Point near north end of 3rd Ave., facing in a NW direction toward Mission Bay/Clairemont), then disappeared as they drew a bit lower to the horizon relative to my first moment of sighting.

Fragmentation

Observation

Yes

Remarks

Duration of total event visibility was close to 10 seconds. About halfway through the sighting, i.e., approx. after 5 secs., a smaller fragment of the fireball broke away from the underside of the larger portion, continuing in same motion of travel but trailing a bit behind. The smaller fragmented section was roughly 1/8th the size of the larger. Both sections continued away from me to the NW of my position (I was looking out over Mission Valley from Montecito Point near north end of 3rd Ave., facing in a NW direction toward Mission Bay/Clairemont), then disappeared as they drew a bit lower to the horizon relative to my first moment of sighting.