1994-10-02 - Bingen, WA - Fireball

I was car camping with some friends at Bingen Marina. I was awakened by what I thought was a car pulling into the parking lot. (no car to be seen) I looked around 360 degrees 2x. The 2nd time I saw a shooting star and a big fire ball type of object simultanously. It seemed to be steaming, and was pulsating. I thought I was looking at a fire at first by the color but I realized it wasnt. I became mesmerized while staring at it and then my adrenalin started flowing. It/they (what ever) calmed me down with a internalized voice I thought at the time was my own. "Go back to sleep, your cold, tired, it's just a metiorite, it's nothing , look in the morning when it's not so cold" Then I layed down, next thing I knew I was sitting up in my sleeping bag again watching this "thing" fading away. In the morning I wake up feeling exhausted and very depressed and I thought it was strange that I should feel that way...I had no recollection until two days later when I was driving and looking at the colors of the sunset and I saw a meteorite...then I remembered. I think that I remember only part of the event, and I don't know for sure the exact time or duration.

It was a calm wind night, the first night I had camped all season long (windsurf season, in the gorge), that we had frost on the car. The object didn't have a definite shape that I could make out. My first impression was "It's a forest fire" but then I realized that there were only about four trees surrounding it and they were not burning. I also noticed that there was absolutely no sounds at all. Dead silence. There appeared to be steam arising from it and it's brilliant red orange glow kind of oscillated. The steam was blowing towards the east as it was a prevailing west wind the whole weekend. (this happened very early sunday morning.) As I sat watching, I couldn't take my eyes off it. The steam or smoke dissapated and no more came from the object. It continued to glow (pulsating) and I stared for I dont know how long. pWhen I realized it wasn't a fire my mind tried frantically to come up with an explaination of what I was observing. I laughed to my self at the burning trees and thought "....and moses only saw burning bushes". When I thought of the possibilities, UFO did come to my mind but not until I exhasted the most rational things I could come up with first like meteorite, or fire or ? anything! I got really frightened and went into the fight or flight mode, when I was suddenely so calm it was as if I were drugged. I think I was aware at the time that something outside of myself was calming me down, and that scared me even more. Like I said before I still don't remember the whole complete thing, because there was a time when I started to lay down because I couldn't fight it anymore. (I tried!!!) and the next thing I can remember I was sitting up watching the light and it slowly ,over the period of a few minutes just got smaller and dissapeared. The height of the glow of the light was at least 60 feet. It was just as long and the whole glow was circular as far as I could tell. I wasa parked aproxamately 30 feet away. There was no noise and no smell. There were no little green! men either. I didn't see any kind of beings at all. I did feel like someone was inside my mind with me. No, I'm not crazy! I was camped with 3 other vehicles. I was in my subaru wagon, by myself. My friend was in his ford utility truck, right belind me a blue old toyota and our friend in his voltswagon camper van. I eventually asked all of them about that night and if they remembered anything. I think I was the only one to either see or at least remember. One interesting detail to note before I go, while this was going on, I cannot remember thier cars being there, maybe it was because I was so focused on staring at this huge light thing, but I don't know.