Reports Report 4271a (Event 4271-2015)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | James B |
| Experience Level | 4/5 |
| Remarks | I often see shooting stars but I was very surprised when I saw this object. It looked very roughly like a stubby cylinder of different colored flames, much much larger than the average shooting star. It surprised me because it was barrelling end over end as it fell and I could clearly make out a very dramatic pinwheeling effect. I thought perhaps a plane had exploded but then I realised it was happening maybe 40,000 feet up if not higher. It must have been really huge. It headed out toward the Pacific Ocean. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture (JP) |
| Latitude | 37° 26' 57.8'' N (37.449388°) |
| Longitude | 138° 48' 4.28'' E (138.80119°) |
| Elevation | 22.744m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2015-09-15 02:00 JST |
| UT Date & Time | 2015-09-14 17:00 UT |
| Duration | ≈1.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up left to down right |
| Descent Angle | 101° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 40° |
| First azimuth | 40° |
| First elevation | 80° |
| Last azimuth | 30° |
| Last elevation | 70° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -10 |
| Color | Central mass was yellowish brown with red flames - very dramatic |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | A very soft crackle that seemed to come from the top of my head. Almost not a "sonic" sound as much as felt. Very peculiar. |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 1s |
| Length | 3° |
| Remarks | The object looked like a tumbling huge flaming mass going end over end. The train looked smoky, lit from within, but faded away quickly as the illumination of the object moved off. |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |