2001-01-11 - Beloit, KS - Fireball

Fireball Over North Central Kansas

At the above stated time I was on my way home from work headed west on the Tipton road about 3 miles west of the Highway 14 and the Tipton road junction. My actaual location was approximately 3-4 miles south west of Beloit Kansas. A yellow-orange ball with a bluish trailing edge appeared to fall to the ground at a high rate of speed. It did not appear to be perfectly round. It was as if the effects of falling through the atmosphere were effecting it's shape, not actually causing a distinguisable tail but rather making it somewhat egg shaped. The object appeared to be dense and not transparent at all, but also it appeared to me to be a ball of fire rather than a solid object. It fell at not quite right angles to the ground. I would say more like 80 degrees in relation to the horizon moving from right to left as it fell. I would say that from the time it entered into view in my windsheild and disapeared behind the horizon was a little more than one second. I was in a low spot and when I topped out on the next hill I saw no further evidence of the object. I neither heard, nor felt, nor saw any impact, but as far as I could tell it had to have hit the ground because it disappeared behind the horizon. As far as size I would say that if it were possible to extend my arm infront of me and try to cover the object with my thumb it would have just barely covered it. Because I have no way to know it's exact size it is impossible to accurately judge the distance it was away from me. However, I had the sense that it may have fallen somewhere around the Solomon Rapids or Glen Elder lake area and between the Tipton road and Hiway 24 which run fairly perallel to each other about 5 miles appart. I contacted the 911 dispatcher and within about 10 minutes a deputy Sheriff contacted me by phone. I related the event to him and he told me he had been on the tipton road also but had not seen it. He said that if something had fallen it must have been behind him or he would have seen it also. His location at th! e time w as west of glen elder eastbound heading toward me. He did not tell me how far west he was but I was about 7-8 miles east of glenelder at the time.) If the object was behind the officer it would have to have been atleast 8-10 miles away from me. If that is the case, in my estimation the oblect had to be fairly large for it to have appeared as large to me as it did.