2013-02-01 - Orem, UT - Fireball

Red fireballs over Orem, Utah

I am in the habit of watching the skies when I walk my dogs at night, and have a keen interest in astronomy, so I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on normal phenomenon.

On February 1st, I was walking my dogs as usual, when I noticed a red light in the sky. It was in Orion, so my first thought was that I was seeing either Mars or Betelgeuse, then I realized it was too bright for either one. It then faded away. I noticed several other red lights in the sky following the same path. I watched for a moment, thinking that they might be airplanes, until I saw an actual airplane fly by, between me and the lights. These lights seemed to form a wide arc across the sky, then one by one they faded out.

After the arc of lights faded, I noticed several lights that, from my vantage point, seemed to start near the south-south-east horizon (at least under the tree-line), rise up about 10 degrees in a straight line, then fade away. I saw about five follow this pattern, before the cold and my dogs forced me back indoors. I was out for about 15 minutes. I tried to see if I could see the lights from my window, but my view of where they were coming from was blocked by other buildings.

I wondered if they were flares, but they traveled in straight lines, not an arc like something shot. They also didn't flare, they stayed the same brightness until they faded away. I also didn't hear any noises that made me think that they might be flares or fireworks.