2003-10-20 - Indian Trail, NC - Unknown

I saw a bright light flash that lit up the sky, and I caught a glimpse of a orange/red tail die.

I'm wasn't really thinking this was a UFO, but I saw a report that people saw a UFO in Durham North Carolina around the same time. It could have been around 20:40-20:50 PM. I would place it around the same time as the other sighting though, which was at or around 8:45. I'm not really sure because I was standing around talking for a while before it took place. The reason I'm filing a report is because I've never seen anything like it, and it happened almost at the exact same time. So we were standing in a very well lit parking lot right under a light poll. We noticed a huge flash which was like a lightning flash. When I think about it, it was more white than blue like lightning. I looked up immediately and saw a small orange/red tail die out almost like a little Roman candle. I was pretty sure it was a shooting star, but all the other reports have me wondering. I didn't hear it, but I was talking. My friend and the guy I was talking to were like wow did you see the lightning, but I was the only one that saw the tail of whatever it was burning out. I knew it couldn't be lightning not just because of the tail but because there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

((NUFORC Note: The year of the sighting is 2003. Many other sightings reported from the east coast. We believe the most likely explanation for the event is a meteor. PD))