I was flying from CA to NY and at 35k feet over Western Wyoming (per the in-flight real-time map) we saw a fireball out the window directly high above us, headed approx. north-to-south (perpendicularly crossing our flight). It was eye-catchingly bright and gray-dirty colored emitting a single smoky tail as it tumbled/rolled. Even though it was high above us the object was very visible (other passengers saw it too and gasped) and our far-away object perspective was the size of a quarter. I took a picture of its smoky tail streaking behind us diagonally from right-to-left on a trajectory toward the horizon which I'd be happy to submit. Note this was around the time of the Orionids.
Location
Address
, WY
Latitude
43° 4' 33.48'' N (43.075968°)
Longitude
109° 49' 1.7'' W (-109.817139°)
Elevation
2777.932129m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2012-10-20 18:45 MDT
UT Date & Time
2012-10-21 00:45 UT
Duration
≈7.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From left to right
Descent Angle
90°
Moving
Facing azimuth
87.79°
First azimuth
87.9°
First elevation
90°
Last azimuth
161.58°
Last elevation
24°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-14
Color
Smokey Gray
Concurrent Sound
Observation
Unknown
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
Unknown
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
10s
Length
-
Remarks
The fireball had a single very smoky, wobbling trail and was tumbling across the sky above my plane.
