I am 38 years old and have spent a decent amount of time staring at the night sky on camping trips or just nights in my own backyard. I have never seen any ring like this. I described my experience to chat gpt and if suggested I most likely saw a fireball and should report it here. The videos I found of fireballs on YouTube did not last as long as what my son and I saw. It was truly amazing
Location
Address
Atascadero, CA
Latitude
35° 28' 57.53'' N (35.482646°)
Longitude
120° 39' 52.66'' W (-120.664628°)
Elevation
268.333496m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2025-05-24 22:44 PDT
UT Date & Time
2025-05-25 05:44 UT
Duration
≈20s
Direction
Moving direction
From right to left
Descent Angle
270°
Moving
Facing azimuth
279.62°
First azimuth
4.16°
First elevation
71°
Last azimuth
177.85°
Last elevation
10°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-14
Color
White
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
Yes
Remarks
As it left our vision it looked like it broke apart over the horizon. About 10 seconds later we heard a loud “boom” like an explosion. It scared my 3 year old it was loud
Persistent train
Observation
No
Duration
-
Length
-
Remarks
-
Terminal flash
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Fragmentation
Observation
Yes
Remarks
Just before it left our point of view it looked like it broke apart over the horizon
