Eight adults witness fast-moving bright object fly across the sky
Our neighbor, a sherriff's deputy, was showing my two year-old niece his police cruiser (lights, siren, etc.). I glanced up to see a large bright white light moving very fast. The brightness was much greater than an Iridium flare or the ISS at a very high intrinsic brightness. The speed of this object was so much greater than any conventional aircraft or orbiting satellite. I said, "look up! look up!", and everyone did to see the object continue in a straight line completely over the horizon. The object travelled from NW to ESE, and was visible for about 10 seconds. When the object was directly overhead near 90 degree azimuth, it changed into a phosphorus-like green color, and amber "sparks" appeared to emit from the object, along with a slight, short-lived vapor trail. The object maintained its incredible speed and straight direction. The object never broke apart, no sounds were heard, so subsequent sonic boom. The object should have been visible over east-central Alabama and west-central Georgia as it continued its course. The eight adults who were present discussed the object for a while. We decided that if the object were a meteor, then it would have disintegrated to some degree while visible to us. Other logical explanations include the re-entry of a decaying satellite, booster rocket or some large mass of space junk coming back into our atmosphere. Weather conditions at the time: 72 degrees F, humidity 72 percent, dewpoint 68 degrees, wind calm, visibility 10 miles, skies were clear.
Our neighbor, a sherriff's deputy, was showing my two year-old niece his police cruiser (lights, siren, etc.). I glanced up to see a large bright white light moving very fast. The brightness was much greater than an Iridium flare or the ISS at a very high intrinsic brightness. The speed of this object was so much greater than any conventional aircraft or orbiting satellite. I said, "look up! look up!", and everyone did to see the object continue in a straight line completely over the horizon. The object travelled from NW to ESE, and was visible for about 10 seconds. When the object was directly overhead near 90 degree azimuth, it changed into a phosphorus-like green color, and amber "sparks" appeared to emit from the object, along with a slight, short-lived vapor trail. The object maintained its incredible speed and straight direction. The object never broke apart, no sounds were heard, so subsequent sonic boom. The object should have been visible over east-central Alabama and west-central Georgia as it continued its course. The eight adults who were present discussed the object for a while. We decided that if the object were a meteor, then it would have disintegrated to some degree while visible to us. Other logical explanations include the re-entry of a decaying satellite, booster rocket or some large mass of space junk coming back into our atmosphere. Weather conditions at the time: 72 degrees F, humidity 72 percent, dewpoint 68 degrees, wind calm, visibility 10 miles, skies were clear.
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
On
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Helena
USA
10 seconds
10 seconds
33.27
-86.90
fireball
AL
Occurred : 6/23/2001 20:47 (Entered as : 06/23/01 20:47) Reported: 6/25/2001 13:22 Posted: 8/5/2001 Location: Helena, AL Shape: Fireball Duration: 10 seconds Characteristics: The object left a trail, The object emitted other objects, The object changed color
Eight adults witness fast-moving bright object fly across the sky