Reports Report 268f (Event 268-2016)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | joshua m |
| Experience Level | 2/5 |
| Remarks | this was so cool! myself (driver) and one other passenger in the vehicle (front passenger seat) witnessed the fireball. i thought it was an aircraft at first, when viewed out of my peripheral vision... but it was not blinking, and was much brighter (orange) and wider and faster-moving than an aircraft's light should have been, so i slowed my vehicle and looked up directly at the object... as it moved across our field of vision, it widened, and its train became irregular / jagged... after a duration of 3-4 seconds (guessing, since i didn't want to look away to check my watch), the stopping of its movement and subsequent explosion / flame-out was so clear and remarkable. not since i lived in arizona and went to the remote desert to see the leonid meteor shower have i seen anything along these lines. so amazing!! |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Ballwin, MO |
| Latitude | 38° 35' 27.63'' N (38.591008°) |
| Longitude | 90° 30' 9'' W (-90.502501°) |
| Elevation | 147.056m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2016-01-23 23:05 CST |
| UT Date & Time | 2016-01-24 05:05 UT |
| Duration | ≈3.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up left to down right |
| Descent Angle | 95° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 260° |
| First azimuth | 245° |
| First elevation | 35° |
| Last azimuth | 265° |
| Last elevation | 33° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -16 |
| Color | Orange, Yellow, Light Yellow |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Unknown |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Unknown |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 0.5s |
| Length | 30° |
| Remarks | glowing train dulled and faded quickly after fireball exploded, but appeared to be (briefly) visible post explosion (say, half to one full second, max). against dark sky, smoke was not visible, but train was bright and noticeable. |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | after seeing the object travel left to right in our field of view (SSE to NNW, based on direction of our vehicle was driving), head of fireball appeared to crash into something a fraction of a second before exploding. as if there were two flashes - a momentum stop for the fireball which caused some increased brightness (this reaction appeared to change the movement of the fireball, literally bouncing it backward), then an explosion of the fireball head which resulted in a bright flash and the fireball's total extinguishment. as mentioned above, train was still visible for a fraction of a second post extinguishment of fireball. |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | in addition to the above: upon stop of rightward movement (first impact, momentum stop) there appeared to be some flashing / sparking of the fireball head. then - as part of total extinguishment - there appeared to be a greater degree of flashing / sparking that i would describe as a disintegration of the fireball. |