2012-07-14 - Saint Petersburg Beach, FL - Fireball

20-40 ORANGE/RED FIREBALLS TRAVELING NORTH OVER ST PETE BEACH-DISAPPEARING OVER GULF

At approximately 9:45pm 7-14-2012, my son and I where in the backyard of our house, which is located at the northern end in the center of the barrier island. We were sitting around a campfire facing south when I looked up and noticed a group of 4 or 5 bright orange/red balls of light traveling north along the coastline.

At first glance I thought they were fireworks as they are commonly shot off on the beach, the group was then followed by another group of approximately 6-8 lights traveling in a row at slightly uneven looking altitudes, the groups all veered west directly toward the Gulf of Mexico.

There was no sound from them and they did not appear to be at very high altitudes, maybe 1500-2000ft, but quickly climbed higher.

Once they were roughly what appeared to be about a hundred yards south of the house over the coastline, they veered west into the Gulf of Mexico and within a few seconds would disappear.

I then thought this may be some maneuvers from! nearby Macdill Air force base. Then, another group, this one more spread out than the 1st two appeared and followed the same flightpath as the others and disappeared with 5-10 seconds of veering west into the gulf from the coastline. Then another group appeared and then another, so I grabbed my camera and began recording them.

The whole episode lasted about I’d say 10 minutes tops with approximately 20-40 orange/red balls of light passing overhead.

Then several minutes after the last group disappeared a single ball came up (like a stragler) and followed the same route as the others. I was able to capture about 4 mintues on my video camera.