Reports Report 2145k (Event 2145-2014)

Observer
Name Jennifer R
Experience Level 3/5
Remarks I might be off by a few minutes on the time. I was outside talking on the phone, the sky was not fully dark, and there was just this amazing colorful ball-like "fireball" that seemed to just appear right above some tall pine trees in a direction where I was absently looking. It caught my eye because of the amazing color and size of this. I have intentionally watched meteor showers, and once saw a fairly large meteor. But I have never seen anything like this! This was not even close to being like the meteor showers that I have stayed awake to watch . It so so much larger and more intense. It seemed so much closer to earth! I mentioned it to my friend on the phone who immediately wondered if this was a 9/11 act. I was pretty certain it was not man-made. It was both too far up in the sky and too large a fireball to be something from earth. And yet, it was so large and fell right down (slightly to the right and downward from my vantage point) that I was convinced it was impossible to be a plane (no noise--no crash). I'm a little perplexed by the question of the trail. It happened so fast. I ask myself, did I see the ball and it exploded and the falling tail was what I saw? Or was it a ball that was just huge and burning smaller as it fell and that was the tail? I'm not sure. If I had to make a guess, I think the ball was so big that it exploded, but was still intact enough to be burning white as it fell down. Is that possible? Can something just explode white center, yellow and red rim reaching out....My eyes and head may not be total accord with what I saw. But this I know: it was simply stunning! I saw color like red and yellow and white fire in the sky. The color was very fast. The white color lasted longer than the red and yellow. Really, how I wish I could see it again! AMAZING, the work of God that is so far beyond whatever little things we deal with on this planet. Truly, truly amazing to have experienced this!
Location
Address -
Latitude 35° 56' 1.77'' N (35.933825°)
Longitude 79° 0' 40.46'' W (-79.011239°)
Elevation 90.93943m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2014-09-11 20:06 EDT
UT Date & Time 2014-09-12 00:06 UT
Duration ≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction From up to down
Descent Angle 180°
Moving
Facing azimuth 226.23°
First azimuth 267.03°
First elevation 30°
Last azimuth 268.32°
Last elevation 10°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -18
Color Yellow, Red, White
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Persistent train
Observation No
Duration -
Length -
Remarks -
Terminal flash
Observation Yes
Remarks I'm not sure but I think it was first like all of the colors red, yellow and white were just a big ball popping and dropping down. It reminded me of when there is the burst of a firework at the fourth of July, but this was definitely more of a big ball shape and as it dropped down (and slightly to the right from where I viewed it) it lost some of the intense color and became more white and sort of took on more of an elongated paisley type shape as it dropped down...
Fragmentation
Observation Unknown
Remarks -