Fireball report

Reports Report 2443ap (Event 2443-2025)

Observer
Name	Erin D
Experience Level	4/5
Remarks	We were driving and not looking in the direction of the meteor when it first appeared. We were not aware of it until a bright flash lit up the whole sky as bright as if it was evening. I don’t know how bright the object itself was, but I assume it would have hurt your eyes to look at. The event was so fast that by the time I reacted to the sudden light and saw the fireball, it was gone too fast to get a good look at its trajectory. The direction I looked to see it should be fairly accurate, but the trajectory and elevation are rough estimates.

Location
Address	Island Park, ID
Latitude	44° 34' 55.14'' N (44.581983°)
Longitude	111° 20' 12.51'' W (-111.336807°)
Elevation	1968.835327m

Time and Duration
Local Date & Time	2025-05-03 21:30 MDT
UT Date & Time	2025-05-04 03:30 UT
Duration	≈3.5s

Direction
Moving direction	From up left to down right
Descent Angle	129°

Moving
Facing azimuth	95°
First azimuth	95°
First elevation	38°
Last azimuth	95°
Last elevation	34°

Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude	-26
Color	White, light yellow, then Orange when it exploded into pieces

Concurrent Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Delayed Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Persistent train
Observation	Unknown
Duration	-
Length	-
Remarks	-

Terminal flash
Observation	Yes
Remarks	We were driving and suddenly the sky lit up as bright as if it were evening again. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see a fireball explode into a shower of bright red/orange sparks. The fragments continued in the direction the meteor was traveling and spread away from each other and burned out very quickly. The whole event from flash to explosion lasted no more than 3 seconds. I saw the fireball for only a fraction of a second before it ended in explosion. I wasn’t aware of the event before the sky light up, so I don’t know if that was a pre explosion terminal flash, or if that was when it first became visible.

Terminal flash

Observation

Yes

Remarks

We were driving and suddenly the sky lit up as bright as if it were evening again. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see a fireball explode into a shower of bright red/orange sparks. The fragments continued in the direction the meteor was traveling and spread away from each other and burned out very quickly. The whole event from flash to explosion lasted no more than 3 seconds. I saw the fireball for only a fraction of a second before it ended in explosion. I wasn’t aware of the event before the sky light up, so I don’t know if that was a pre explosion terminal flash, or if that was when it first became visible.

Fragmentation
Observation	Yes
Remarks	See above for more details. Shortly after a very bright flash lit up the whole sky (no more than 2 seconds later), the fireball exploded into what looked like a shower of red/orange sparks, or like a large cluster of normal sized (but red) shooting stars. I couldn’t count how many pieces, but there could have easily been over 100 visible pieces flying apart. The explosion lasted no more than 1 second before the fragments burned up and vanished.

Fragmentation

Observation

Yes

Remarks

See above for more details. Shortly after a very bright flash lit up the whole sky (no more than 2 seconds later), the fireball exploded into what looked like a shower of red/orange sparks, or like a large cluster of normal sized (but red) shooting stars. I couldn’t count how many pieces, but there could have easily been over 100 visible pieces flying apart. The explosion lasted no more than 1 second before the fragments burned up and vanished.