I was startled by how bright it was. Sitting outside on the patio in very dim light spilling out of a house window, it was like the was a silent helicopter with a search light was shining down on me. Very intense. It passed nearly overhead for about 4 seconds.
Location
Address
San Rafael, CA
Latitude
38° 0' 49.29'' N (38.013692°)
Longitude
122° 33' 55.37'' W (-122.565381°)
Elevation
-
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2012-10-17 19:50 PDT
UT Date & Time
2012-10-18 02:50 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From right to left
Descent Angle
270°
Moving
Facing azimuth
277.74107°
First azimuth
231.51856°
First elevation
80°
Last azimuth
20.43337°
Last elevation
85°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
1
Color
orange white
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
Yes
Remarks
30 sec after the fireball went out, several very loud booms like medium sized thunder claps occurred followed by a long duration rumbling decay over another 30 sec.
Persistent train
Observation
Unknown
Duration
-1s
Length
-1°
Remarks
-
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
Just before it disappeared, it fragmented into a small piece that traveled east of the main body when looking nearly straight up at it. Then possibly another piece broke off just as it flashed and was gone.
