I've seen several falling stars in my life. This was far more dramatic than any falling star I've seen. I'm almost 55 years old and grew up in a rural area and did a fair amount of stargazing as a kid. I've seen satellites move across the sky camping at high altitudes. I was with a friend a few years ago with a telescope and seen some distant meteor showers once which didn't compare at all to this event. Much closer to us and more dramatic. I reported this to KTVI news in St Louis Saturday morning (9/17/22) and at that time they indicated no one else had called in. In the photograph I uploaded I took that standing on the west side of Lawrence looking toward the west. Right after that picture I fumbled to get my camera into video mode and walked backwards across Lawrence to capture the video. I run a solar energy installation company, mechanical engineer by education and was with my wife who's a medical doctor. We both clearly saw this event.
Photo
Location
Address
St. Louis, MO
Latitude
38° 37' 9.76'' N (38.619379°)
Longitude
90° 14' 51.09'' W (-90.247525°)
Elevation
147.362732m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2022-09-16 21:01 CDT
UT Date & Time
2022-09-17 02:01 UT
Duration
≈20s
Direction
Moving direction
From up right to down left
Descent Angle
245°
Moving
Facing azimuth
330°
First azimuth
320°
First elevation
28°
Last azimuth
300°
Last elevation
17°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-20
Color
Light Yellow
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
2s
Length
-
Remarks
The object was falling toward earth, large with "sparks" then seemed to move horizontally and disappear / then reappear almost like it was darting through clouds. It was clear cloudless night where we were. The object moved toward the west from our perspective I think we were looking at the rear of the object as it moved away from us. As it was closer to the horizon it blurred and appeared smokey then brighter for a split second then smoky again. In the video which was taken at the end of the event you can still see some sparking before it disappeared into the glow / smoky look. I think we were looking at the rear of the fireball as it moved away from my wife and I.
