1999-11-18 - Edison, NJ - Light

I observed an bright object in the sky with a glittering tail - nothing unusual you say, but it was traveling NORTHWARD. After 15 minutes while the object was hidden from my sight behind tall buildings, I saw it again and it was traveling parallel to the earth - tipping a bit northward without losing its llumination. I initially dismissed this incident until I read about the numerous sightings the next day - about a meteor shower in the MID WEST. I still find it odd that a meteor would be observed in NJ, and a specific meteor would be traveling at a slow speed north-east for 15 minutes - the sighting I saw could have originated off the NJ coastline. which houses numerous military facilities. ilitary s- off the NJ coast near a military installation.before I dismissed it as another object - until I read the numerous accounts of odd sightings in the midwest. This observance was from Edison, NJ at approximately 7:10=7:15pm.

My husband and I and our 6yr old (and 18 month old) were driving home from my in-laws in Edison to our home in Colonia, NJ. As a passenger in the front seat, I looked out the right front window and saw an odd sight up in the sky. A traveling, silent light, intense as the North Star ((sic)), was at an equal altitude of the plane traffic in and out of Newark airport, NJ. My husband said I probably just saw a shooting star but I've seen a few shooting stars in my lifetime and this was different. My 6yr old in the back right hand seat said it was comet (he didn't see it initally). For about 3 minutes we passed tall buildings near Metropark train station that blocked this unusual light's view. After we passed the tall buildings, I looked up in the sky, not thinking it would still be there (I thought it was also a firework or a comet). However, the sparkling tail heading almost parallel to the earth, tipped a bit northward at the same altitude I originally saw it. My 6 yr old then saw it. My husband was busy driving and just saw one of the many airplanes that were escorting this object. The next evening I went to www.sightings.com,(as I do most every day) and read about all the articles where people in the mid west experienced odd sightings. My husband called me later in the day and said that it was on the news I probably saw a meteor - I can still in my mind see the strange object flying northward - When we arrived in our driveway, I saw about 6 (what looked like airplanes) surrounding this odd illuminated object. ... can a comet fly northward for 15 minutes? Can a shooting star fly northward also? Can a firework continue for 15 minutes without losing illumination or speed?