2008-11-17 - Chesterfield, VA - Oval

Orange Light at 75 Cent Toll Plaza Chesterfield, VA

I left my home in Chesterfield, VA at 6 AM to drive to work in the West End of Richmond. Between my home and Powhite Parkway I saw 2 "shooting stars". I was the only vehicle at that time of morning approaching the 75 cent Powhite Parkway toll plaza headed north bound (there was only 1 or 2 cars headed southbound). As I was slowing down to drive through the Smart Tag lane at the toll plaza, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw a glowing oval shaped orange light right smack dab in the middle of the back glass of my minivan (on the outside). As soon as I noticed it, it zipped off to the right (passenger side) out of sight. My first thought was that I had almost been rear ended and in just a split second I was thinking "But HOW? I'm the only vehicle out here." I even drove slowly through the toll plaza looking to my right for the vehicle that I thought had almost hit me and saw nothing. I was the only vehicle. As I continued on down the road, I was wondering what the heck I'd just seen and was arguing logic in my mind. The orange light had the shape almost of a vehicles parking light, but for a vehicle to have it's parking light that high up at my back glass, the other vehicle would have had to have been higher than me (and I think I would have seen that). I also started noticing the parking lights on other vehicles and all car lights (other than headlights) have that black grid pattern thing within the light, so you do not see just pure orange or pure red, you also can detect the black grid within too. THe light that I saw was not light that. I may have only seen it for a few seconds, but I remember it clearly. It was a pure orange/red light and when it "zipped" to the right, it seemed to have a light trail. I was talking about the "weird" thing that I saw when I got into work and someone pointed out that we were supposed to have had a meteor shower yesterday moring before dawn. Yes, that can account for the 2 "falling stars" I saw on my way to the tool booth, but I don'! t think a falling meteor would "hover" at the middle of the back glass of a minivan and then zoom off to the right (in a straight horizontal line, I might add). I am just baffled by what I saw. I drove through there again this morning paying close attention to the possibility of any orangish lights around the toll plaza that may have caused a reflection of some sort. There are NO orange lights that close to the toll plaza. Well, at least my husband and my parents DON'T think I'm crazy because they agree that it just does not make sense. I only wish that my 7 1/2 month old son could talk and tell me what he saw. He was in his carseat facing toward the back glass.