2003-10-20 - Swannanoa, NC - Fireball

On Mon. Oct. 20, 2003 at approximately 8:45 PM I saw a fireball like object streak across sky in a east to west direction.

I was at my son's soccer game and right at the end of the game I saw a fireball like object streak across the night sky in a east to southwesterly direction. It looked like a bottle rocket type firework but bigger like a professional sized firework but it did not explode. It just streaked across the sky. I would have completely dismissed it as some type of firework but it had blue green sparks flying off of it and I read on the internet today that a similar sighting had been reported over Durham NC at approximately the same time, 8:45, and that that object was also reported as "trailing a tail of green streaks." My sighting was between 8:45 and 9:00 PM, also in NC, just west of Durham. The report, which was on "What's New On Compuserve" also said A Durham County deputy sheriff said his sighting was near interstate 40. I 40 is right behind the soccer field where we saw this object. I'm not sure how many others there saw it but I heard a few Ooos and Ahhs, after I saw it so I'm assuming others there saw it too. My mother-in-law saw it. I'm assuming everybody else that saw it also dismissed it as a possible firework because nobody said anything else about it. Everyone was too excited that we had just had a very exciting soccer game with my son pulling off a hat trick in the last two minutes of the game. A hat trick is 3 unanswered goals back to back. My son's team won the game 8 to 2 so everyone was so excited about the game that nobody thought anything more about the firework looking object. But there was just the one object and it didn't appear to come from the ground. It was more like it was just streaking across the night sky, but close enough to the ground to look like a firework. It also made a sound, not very loud, like a firework streaking and I recall hearing a faint "pop" like sound like a firework exploding but it was not very loud. Neither was the streaking sound. It was like I was hearing it but like it didn't sound close. Even though the object appeard close! The sound sounded like it was far away. The object itself appeared white hot in the center and when I heard the faint "pop" sound I recall seeing orange as well as the blue green sparks but the orange came from the center white light like it was exploding or breaking apart like an explosion but there was no sound of a loud explosion, just a faint "pop" sound.