American Meteor Society

Reports Report 4219h (Event 4219-2025)

Observer
Name Paul A
Experience Level 4/5
Remarks We are at a large family reunion in the mountains of Northern Utah / Southern Idaho near Bear Lake. The absent moon, no ambient light and higher elevation made for near perfect viewing conditions. I have been trying to get my kids to go out stargazing with me all week but Unfortunately, even though they love stargazing the opportunity to spend time with cousins won out so I was just by myself. I am extremely sad that they missed this amazing opportunity to see something so rare and amazing. I was lucky enough to be laying in the perfect position to see this event from start to finish. It was the second coolest night sky event I have ever seen right after the total solar eclipse in 2017.
Location
Address Garden City, UT
Latitude 41° 55' 47.33'' N (41.929813°)
Longitude 111° 23' 51.02'' W (-111.397505°)
Elevation 1812.817749m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2025-07-23 23:44 MDT
UT Date & Time 2025-07-24 05:44 UT
Duration ≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction From up right to down left
Descent Angle 223°
Moving
Facing azimuth 3.7°
First azimuth 78.23°
First elevation 75°
Last azimuth 342.47°
Last elevation 7°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -13
Color Purple, Yellow, Light Yellow, Red, White
Concurrent Sound
Observation Yes
Remarks I was enjoying a very peaceful absolutely silent night of stargazing, no noise at all, no frogs, no crickets or other animal or “night” sounds, there was also no wind so the trees were silent as well. It was so quiet it was kind of creepy. I heard several “booms” that were vaguely deep, not very loud but were obviously quite a distance away but were definitely associated with the object. The sounds were obviously very distant, I'm not sure how long it was before I heard the sounds because I was still shocked by the sighting. I estimate 45 - 60 seconds maybe even longer. About three quarters of the way through it’s travel It broke into several (7-8…) pieces just above the horizon and it made a distant crackling sounds somewhat like a firework that has numerous crackles and snaps. This “crackling / popping” was barely discernible and I’m sure I would not have heard it if there were normal nighttime background sounds.
Delayed Sound
Observation Yes
Remarks Please ee above
Persistent train
Observation Yes
Duration 5s
Length 20°
Remarks It dimmed and brightened several times. The first third of the streak looked like a very normal very bright shooting star then it dimmed completely out for just a small fraction of a second and then came back wider and started changing colors as it brightened and widened, quickly changing from red to purple to white then yellowish or white as it broke apart into seven or eight smaller pieces, which were all either white or light yellow. Before they disappeared behind a nearby house. There was a faint glowing trail along that path that faded after 3-4 seconds after I lost sight of the object. It looked like what you would see after a bright light is shined in your eyes and the ghost of it remains in your eyes for a few seconds.
Terminal flash
Observation Yes
Remarks There was a flash as it broke apart but I cant remember how much brighter it was than than before but there was definitely a bright flash as it appeared to break apart. After it disappeared for a brief moment and came back very brightly the red and purple portions of the flight seem to be quite a bit brighter than anything up to that point, and it seemed like it got very bright a couple times
Fragmentation
Observation Yes
Remarks Yes, it fragmented the last 1/4 of its flight. It broke into 7-8 smaller streaks that became brighter white as it broke before disappearing behind a house a couple hundred feet away so I’d say it probably almost made it to the distant horizon.