2014-07-04 - Hamilton, OH - Fireball

Orange-red flaming orb travelling constant speed, direction and altitude.

At apx. 10:15 pm on July 4, my wife and I were sitting out back of the house watching fireworks from around the neighborhood. My wife, who is far more observant than me, was also watching behind us and pointed out the object to me, and asked me what it was.

Initially, I thought it was an aircraft in distress as it appeared to be on fire. However, after watching it for a time, I dismissed that notion, for several reasons: 1) it maintained its’ altitude; 2) it had no aircraft lighting; 3) it made no sound.

The object was flying roughly northeast to southwest. It was, at its nearest position, apx. ½ away and had only 1000-2000 ft. of altitude. It was orange-red with roughly a circular to elliptical shape.

The flames gave it almost a teardrop, or hershey’s kiss, shape at times, as they rose above and mostly centered about the object. The underside of the object appeared to be flatter and only glowing, while the flame appearance was around and about the sides or! middle of the object.

Even though the object was moving at a constant speed the flames did not trail the object.

I’ve observed many night sky objects including Sputnik I or II, numerous satellites, manned NASA spacecraft, comets and meteors, but I’ve never observed anything like this.

I am a retired designer from a local manufacturer of turbine engines.