Orange fireball splits in two and then disappears over Franklinville, New Jersey
As I walked down the driveway I looked at the sky across the street over an open field, I saw an orange fireball slowly streak across the sky. It moved slowly. A lot slower than any meteor/shooting star I've ever seen. It moved laterally heading north and didn't appear to be falling.
I couldn't tell the distance from myself to the fireball. The only thing that I have to judge the hieght of the fireball from my vantage point, is the tree line directly across the street from my driveway. Those trees are about 30-35 feet high and the fireball was about 30-35 feet above them, but over the field behind them. The field is to the left of the tree line. I will attatch a picture of my vantage point in daylight.
There was definitely some sort of smoke or heat trail behind it. I couldn't really tell what it was but it looked like a thick plume. The fireball lasted about 2 seconds and then it appeared to split in to two pieces. It looked like one behind the other. They both seemed to have kept the same altitude and color. Once it went out, I could not see any visible trail or anything.
The "intact" fireball was about 4-5 times the size of an average star. After it "split" the front piece seemed to be the same size as it was before it split. The one in front was the biggest, the one behind was half the size. Then, it just went out. The whole thing lasted about 3 seconds.
I looked over at my mom and asked if she had seen it. She said no.
As I walked down the driveway I looked at the sky across the street over an open field, I saw an orange fireball slowly streak across the sky. It moved slowly. A lot slower than any meteor/shooting star I've ever seen. It moved laterally heading north and didn't appear to be falling.
I couldn't tell the distance from myself to the fireball. The only thing that I have to judge the hieght of the fireball from my vantage point, is the tree line directly across the street from my driveway. Those trees are about 30-35 feet high and the fireball was about 30-35 feet above them, but over the field behind them. The field is to the left of the tree line. I will attatch a picture of my vantage point in daylight.
There was definitely some sort of smoke or heat trail behind it. I couldn't really tell what it was but it looked like a thick plume. The fireball lasted about 2 seconds and then it appeared to split in to two pieces. It looked like one behind the other. They both seemed to have kept the same altitude and color. Once it went out, I could not see any visible trail or anything.
The "intact" fireball was about 4-5 times the size of an average star. After it "split" the front piece seemed to be the same size as it was before it split. The one in front was the biggest, the one behind was half the size. Then, it just went out. The whole thing lasted about 3 seconds.
I looked over at my mom and asked if she had seen it. She said no.
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
On
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Franklinville
USA
3-4
3-4
39.62
-75.04
fireball
NJ
Occurred : 12/21/2013 18:04 (Entered as : 12/21/2013 18:04) Reported: 1/2/2014 9:55:30 PM 21:55 Posted: 1/10/2014 Location: Franklinville, NJ Shape: Fireball Duration: 3-4 Characteristics: The object left a trail, The object emitted other objects
Orange fireball splits in two and then disappears over Franklinville, New Jersey.