Fireball report

Reports Report 712a (Event 712-2009)

Observer
Name	Mark S
Experience Level	3/5
Remarks	I initially logged this viewing into my geocaching find logs, the day after this event. Having been out for a lengthy evening hike on the Mason Rail Trail in Mason, NH the night of the viewing, I chose to log in my geocaching finds with a rested and clear mind. That particular geocache, called "duodecim (and a half)" is still active, and my log dated Nov. 21, 2009 is as follows; Geocache; duodecim (and a half) A cache by snewt lindell Message this owner Hidden : 06/02/2009 Difficulty: 2 out of 5 Terrain: 1.5 out of 5 Size: Size: micro (micro) 8 Favorites "Found it 11/21/2009 Wow! Great hide! Loved the container. Not only was this cache a great one..... but our timing could not have been better. VFEM, WILD-n-UNRULY and I did this on one long day/evening of caching. It was already 5:30PM and completely dark out when we got to this one. Right after WILD-n-UNRULY made the find for us and posed for some photo's next to his find, we witnessed one of the most brilliant and slow moving meteors that either of us have ever seen! It was AWESOME! It took a full 5 seconds to streak low across the Western sky, falling apart and leaving bits of itself trailing behind in a bright blazing orange and blue and green all the way. One of the only two I have ever seen that large, bright and so slow moving. Just too incredible for words. I actually had the time to tell my fellow cachers twice (Yes... twice!) "Look! A meteor!" before they looked over and it still took another three seconds or more to finish it's path from view. I yelled and whooped it up so much in excitement that I startled a deer not far from us into bleating. An all around awesome cache experience, and one I will never forget. TFTC "snewt lindell"....for the craftsmanship, obviously... T-N, L-N, SL" *Note that our location when having viewed this fireball would be very close to the same coordinates as the geocache hide itself; N 42° 47.252 W 071° 46.268 My memory of this event is rather good I believe, mostly due to it having been so remarkable, and having the opportunity to make note of it shortly afterwards. I feel confident in my memories to all associated angles of viewing and additional questions answered within this report. Although being at that location in person again may/or may not lead to a minor change. Thank you for your time.

Location
Address	Mason, NH
Latitude	42° 47' 13.71'' N (42.787142°)
Longitude	71° 46' 13.01'' W (-71.77028°)
Elevation	218.121m

Time and Duration
Local Date & Time	2009-11-21 17:30 EST
UT Date & Time	2009-11-21 22:30 UT
Duration	≈7.5s

Direction
Moving direction	From down left to up right
Descent Angle	86°

Moving
Facing azimuth	222.97°
First azimuth	165.3°
First elevation	21°
Last azimuth	285.54°
Last elevation	16°

Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude	-12
Color	Light Blue, Green, Orange

Concurrent Sound
Observation	Yes
Remarks	Distant sound of a fire pit in the wind, or a sound similar to tossing a thick stick on fire. I'd best equate it to a faint or distant rocket during takeoff, having witnessed them often.

Delayed Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Persistent train
Observation	No
Duration	-
Length	-
Remarks	-

Terminal flash
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Fragmentation

Observation

Yes

Remarks

Being well after dark on a New England late fall evening, the fragmentation was pronounced and clearly visible, with many pieces trailing and falling in lesser trajectories. In combination, there was visible smoke back-lit by the debris and tail. No flash noticed, just a very steady burning and moving across the lower sky. Shortly afterwards I described it as like watching a bus on fire driving across the sky. This event was first witnessed by me, and then by the two companions with me, after I exclaimed "Look! A meteor!" I managed to yell this twice, before they turned around in disbelief to witness it themselves. My initial viewing lasted at least two seconds prior to it being witnessed by them, and in total lasted at least 5-7 seconds. I was dumbfounded to not find other viewings of this magnificent fireball already logged into this database.