American Meteor Society

Reports Report 3378h (Event 3378-2014)

Observer
Name James C
Experience Level 4/5
Remarks The object crossed from horizon to horizon extremely quickly. It was very difficult to judge height and distance owing to the fact that my daughter and I observed it from a moving vehicle. She pointed and asked if that was a plane that was on fire. I turned and looked, and no - it most definitely wasn't a burning aircraft. She immediately figured out it was a meteorite, and worried that it would be like the Chelyabinsk object of last year. It looked VERY similar in the sky, though seemingly smaller, and at night.
Location
Address Thunder Bay, ON (CA)
Latitude 48° 26' 46.13'' N (48.446148°)
Longitude 89° 15' 30.76'' W (-89.258545°)
Elevation 243.721069m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2014-12-01 19:57 EST
UT Date & Time 2014-12-02 00:57 UT
Duration ≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction From left to right
Descent Angle 90°
Moving
Facing azimuth 168.05°
First azimuth 158.46°
First elevation 33°
Last azimuth 208.62°
Last elevation 34°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -19
Color Orange, Yellow
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Persistent train
Observation No
Duration -
Length -
Remarks -
Terminal flash
Observation Yes
Remarks Over the southwest horizon, there was a brief bright flash and some fragmentation that quickly faded to black over Mt. McKay
Fragmentation
Observation Yes
Remarks There appeared to be fragmentation of the object as it crossed the sky - small sparks coming off the main body into the tail/trail. At the end of the object's trajectory, there was a brief bright flash with additional small fragments which very quickly faded to black.