The object looked like an enormous bottle rocket flying across the clear night sky, except the speed of the object was much too fast to be anything other than some sort of debris entering our atmosphere.
Location
Address
Rockford, IL
Latitude
42° 16' 27.17'' N (42.274213°)
Longitude
89° 3' 31.25'' W (-89.05868°)
Elevation
242.276932m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2024-03-03 19:05 CST
UT Date & Time
2024-03-04 01:05 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up right to down left
Descent Angle
265°
Moving
Facing azimuth
88.86°
First azimuth
116°
First elevation
38°
Last azimuth
66.29°
Last elevation
37°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-22
Color
Red
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
1s
Length
3°
Remarks
It had a very short trail of red halfway through its path across my vision.
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
As the object passed the halfway point of my vision it erupted into a much larger and brighter object , still red but obviously burning in some fashion.
Fragmentation
Observation
Yes
Remarks
During the aforementioned flash i could also see bright red fragmentation surrounding the object in what looked like a sparkler being lit , as well as forming a very short tail of red sparks or debris.
