Short-lived white "shooting star"
While driving west on a dark road I saw a white light move in a straight line in the sky for about 3 seconds. The light was approximately 35 degrees to my left and maybe 25 degrees above the horizon (a mesa was to my left which blocked the actual horizon but the light was above the mesa). The light traveled only a few degrees before suddenly 'going out.' The color appeared to me to be a neutral white and did not vary in brightness. I did not see any trail behind the light.
From my position the light had the appearance of traveling in a SW direction, assuming it was moving parallel to the ground.
It was my opinion at the time, and still is, that I saw a partially memorable shooting star (meteor). I was impressed enough by the sight to jot down what I saw in a notebook (later that night). This evening, while perusing the recent additions to the NUFORC sighting reports, I noticed a number of meteor-like sighting reports for the night of 20 October 2003 and was reminded of my own experience of 21 October 2003.
Please note that my stated time is approximate and probably accurate to +/- 5 minutes.
While driving west on a dark road I saw a white light move in a straight line in the sky for about 3 seconds. The light was approximately 35 degrees to my left and maybe 25 degrees above the horizon (a mesa was to my left which blocked the actual horizon but the light was above the mesa). The light traveled only a few degrees before suddenly 'going out.' The color appeared to me to be a neutral white and did not vary in brightness. I did not see any trail behind the light.
From my position the light had the appearance of traveling in a SW direction, assuming it was moving parallel to the ground.
It was my opinion at the time, and still is, that I saw a partially memorable shooting star (meteor). I was impressed enough by the sight to jot down what I saw in a notebook (later that night). This evening, while perusing the recent additions to the NUFORC sighting reports, I noticed a number of meteor-like sighting reports for the night of 20 October 2003 and was reminded of my own experience of 21 October 2003.
Please note that my stated time is approximate and probably accurate to +/- 5 minutes.
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Off
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Rancho Santa Fe
USA
3 seconds (approx.)
3 seconds (approx.)
33.00
-117.21
light
CA
Occurred : 10/21/2003 22:15 (Entered as : 10/21/2003 22:15) Reported: 11/1/2003 10:21:46 PM 22:21 Posted: 11/8/2003 Location: Rancho Santa Fe, CA Shape: Light Duration: 3 seconds (approx.)
Short-lived white "shooting star"