Fireball is the perfect description for these things. I feel honored to have seen one.
Location
Address
Spencer, MA
Latitude
42° 14' 11.51'' N (42.23653°)
Longitude
72° 0' 25.45'' W (-72.00707°)
Elevation
219.63m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2018-03-15 23:27 EDT
UT Date & Time
2018-03-16 03:27 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up left to down right
Descent Angle
143°
Moving
Facing azimuth
52.74°
First azimuth
37.8°
First elevation
65°
Last azimuth
59.82°
Last elevation
18°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-12
Color
Orange
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
1s
Length
16°
Remarks
It looked solid like a laser but tapered very quickly to a point.
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
A giant orange ball exploded into view and fell from the sky at about 65 degrees above the horizon when I first saw it. I call it a flash because it did seem to decrease in brightness quickly as it decended. I have never seen one of these before so it's hard to compare it to an average one. I'm familiar with satellites and iridum flares but this was not orbiting the earth.
