Reports Report 1528ff (Event 1528-2012)

Observer
Name george
Experience Level 3/5
Remarks At 7:45 PM on Oct 17 2012, I sighted what looked like a very large meteor in the western Sky I sighted it in Union City CA ( the east side of the San Francisco bay). At first I thought it might be a firework but it was too high and too far away. I have seen Meteor showers before in the mountains but this was far bigger It looked like I thought a comet would with a tail that went about two degrees long from where I was standing. It was about 35 degrees up from where I was standing. It was going from my left to right or South to North as I was facing West. It was angling slightly downward then broke up into 3 pieces, all on fire, and began more of a arch going down then they burnt out. This lasted about 3 seconds. It may have been longer but I just saw it as I got out of my car and did not see when it started. I hope it was not a airplane going down into the SF bay. Union city is in a flight path for the Oakland, Hayward and San Francisco Airport, I can always see at least 4 or 5 planes somewhere in the air and would be surprised if one of them didn’t see it.
Location
Address Union City, CA
Latitude 37° 35' 36.21'' N (37.593392°)
Longitude 122° 2' 37.79'' W (-122.04383°)
Elevation -
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2012-10-17 19:45 PDT
UT Date & Time 2012-10-18 02:45 UT
Duration ?
Direction
Moving direction From left to right
Descent Angle 90°
Moving
Facing azimuth 270°
First azimuth 270°
First elevation 35°
Last azimuth 270°
Last elevation 35°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -7
Color fire
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks No sound
Persistent train
Observation Yes
Duration 3s
Length
Remarks At first the train was a tight triangle coming off the Meteor, it was big enought to see it as a triangle
Terminal flash
Observation No
Remarks at first it was a large Meteor then it broke into 3 pieces all were on fire then they angled more toward the ground and went out.
Fragmentation
Observation Yes
Remarks -