2012-11-11 - Sacramento, CA - Fireball

Orange ball of flame crosses North Sacramento - no news reports

11/11/2012 approx. 1757 hrs.

Driving north on Morse Ave. from El Camino in North Sacramento, observed large bright yellow orange light traveling from NNW. I stopped my vehicle to get better view through tree branches. The object moved at a deliberate pace along a flight path nearly due south. As it passed overhead, it appeared to be a slowly roiling ball of orange flame, however showed no disturbance from surrounding air, no streaking, no trail, and no discernible noise.

I tried to observe signs of craft disintegration due to inflight emergency, but no debris or disturbance of flight path was visible. Duration of the observation was no more than 3 minutes from the appearance at 40 degrees above the N horizon to 30 degrees above S horizon when the object flashed off and on 2-3 times before disappearing from view. As remarkable as this sight was, the relatively undramatic speed and straight path made the appearance seem relatively mundane.

I was raised in the approach path of a civil airport and have lived for 18 yrs. within ½ mile of the local airbase , and am quite familiar with the appearance of all manner of civilian, commercial and military craft in nearly all conditions; this one, despite the lackadaisical pace, was unique in my experience.