I saw a chartreuse green fireball with a trail of orange sparks as I was driving on the night of Oct. 28, 2008.
On the night of October 28, at 19:38, I was going northwest on highway 84 in Northern New Mexico. I was at milepost 204, near the town of Medanales, when a large chartreuse green fireball appeared to my right, to the east of me, about halfway up the night sky. This fireball was trailing a trail of orange sparks. If I were to use my thumb and hold it about 4 inches from my face, and squint with one eye, the fireball was the size of my thumb, and the orange trail of sparks was twice the length of my thumb. This fireball suddenly appeared. I was driving 60 miles per hour, and it was zooming on by, traveling horizontally in the same direction as I was, proceeding northwest at what appeared to be 100 miles an hour.
Just as soon as I said, "Good God! What in the heck is that thing?" The fireball suddenly vanished as soon as it appeared. The entire event was over within two minutes.
I have never seen a two-colored meteor, and this thing was whizzing along horizontally, going parallel to the horizon, which is odd behavior for a meteor, in my opinion. As I say, this thing appeared to be halfway up in the night sky, suddenly appeared, and suddenly disappeared. It did not disappear by burning out.
Very strange!
((NUFORC Note: We spoke via telephone with this witness, just a few minutes after the event, and we found her to be an exceptionally good witness, given her ability to report the facts surrounding the event in a mature, objective, and factual manner.
Because the object appeared to the witness to be "shedding" sparks, we assume that the object was a typical, bright meteor. However, we are uncertain what the object was, given the other sightings that were reported from across the U. S. on the same night. PD))
On the night of October 28, at 19:38, I was going northwest on highway 84 in Northern New Mexico. I was at milepost 204, near the town of Medanales, when a large chartreuse green fireball appeared to my right, to the east of me, about halfway up the night sky. This fireball was trailing a trail of orange sparks. If I were to use my thumb and hold it about 4 inches from my face, and squint with one eye, the fireball was the size of my thumb, and the orange trail of sparks was twice the length of my thumb. This fireball suddenly appeared. I was driving 60 miles per hour, and it was zooming on by, traveling horizontally in the same direction as I was, proceeding northwest at what appeared to be 100 miles an hour.
Just as soon as I said, "Good God! What in the heck is that thing?" The fireball suddenly vanished as soon as it appeared. The entire event was over within two minutes.
I have never seen a two-colored meteor, and this thing was whizzing along horizontally, going parallel to the horizon, which is odd behavior for a meteor, in my opinion. As I say, this thing appeared to be halfway up in the night sky, suddenly appeared, and suddenly disappeared. It did not disappear by burning out.
Very strange!
((NUFORC Note: We spoke via telephone with this witness, just a few minutes after the event, and we found her to be an exceptionally good witness, given her ability to report the facts surrounding the event in a mature, objective, and factual manner.
Because the object appeared to the witness to be "shedding" sparks, we assume that the object was a typical, bright meteor. However, we are uncertain what the object was, given the other sightings that were reported from across the U. S. on the same night. PD))
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Off
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Yes
Medanales
USA
2 minutes
2 minutes
36.17
-106.18
fireball
NM
Occurred : 10/28/2008 19:38 (Entered as : 10/28/08 19:38) Reported: 10/30/2008 11:51:19 AM 11:51 Posted: 10/31/2008 Location: Medanales, NM Shape: Fireball Duration: 2 minutes Characteristics: The object left a trail
I saw a chartreuse green fireball with a trail of orange sparks as I was driving on the night of Oct. 28, 2008.