2000-03-09 - Olive Branch, MS - Fireball

I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK WHEN I WITNESSED AN ORANGE/RED FIREBALL WITH A REAL BRIGHT WHITE SILVERY LIGHT PERTRUDING OUT THE FRONT/TOP THAT ILLUMINATED THE SKY ALL AROUND IT. NO DOUBT MOST PUREST, BRIGHTEST, WHITE LIGHT I EVER SAW. THE OBJECT SLOWED CONSIDERABLY, WHILE GOING IN AN UPWARD ANGLE. AS SLOWING THE WHITE LIGHT GOT DIM, NOT OUT. THE LIGHT GOT REAL BRIGHT, MORE SO THAN BEFORE, THEN ACCELERATED OUT TO THE NORTH, AS IT WAS GOING FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH.

ON THE EVENING OF MARCH, 9, 2000 AT APPROX. 2045 HOURS I WAS TRAVELING WEST ON GOODMAN RD.(HWY 302)ON MY WAY TO WORK AT ESTES EXPRESS TRUCKING COMPANY IN MEMPHIS, TN. AS TRAVELING, I WAS NOTICING THE BEAUTIFUL QUARTER MOON, WITH VENUS (I THINK THAT IS THE CORRECT PLANET) UNDER THE MOON. BOTH WERE BIG AND BRIGHT AS THE NIGHT SKY WAS CLEAR AND CLOUDLESS. WHILE OBSERVING I SAW A BIG ORANGE/RED FIREBALL WITH A TAIL TRAVELING JUST UNDER THE MOON GOING FROM SOUTH TO NORTH IN AN UPWARD DIRECTION, NOT DOWNWARD AS YOU WOULD COMMONLY SEE A NORMAL METEORITE (ME BEING AN OVER THE ROAD TRUCK DRIVER, I HAVE WITNESSED MANY METEORS FALLING TO EARTH). WHAT MADE THIS SIGHTING VERY DIFFERENT THAN SEEING A METEORITE FALL TO EARTH WAS THE PURE, BRIGHT, WHITE LIGHT THAT WAS ON THE FRONT OF THE FIREBALL. IT WAS SO BRIGHT AND WHITE, IT ILLUMINATED THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY AROUND IT. THIS WAS NO DOUBT, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, YET STRANGEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN. AS IT GOT TO THE NORTH OF MY VIEW, I SAW THE LIGHT DIM, NOT GO OUT. THE FIREBALL DID NOT DIM, JUST THE WHITE LIGHT. WHILE DIMMING DOWN, THE FIREBALL SLOWED DOWN FOR A SECOND OR TWO. JUST AS IT SLOWLY DIMMED, IT THEN LIGHT BACK UP WHITER AND BRIGHTER THAN BEFORE AND ACCELERATED IN AN UPWARD TRACK TO THE NORTH. NO WAY WAS THIS FIREBALL A METEORITE. I HAVE SEEN HUNDREDS OF METEORS IN MY 20 YEARS OF DRIVING A BIG TRUCK.