Fireball Event

[mn90403]

On my way to Rye Patch last Thursday morning about 1:17 AM I was on 395 and observed a meteor or 'fireball event' that was just incredible.  I now see that there is a video that does not do it justice.  Before I put a link to that video and those reports let me tell you what I saw and how I reported it.

This is what I saw:

About 20 minutes north of Ridgecrest on 395 I had just gotten out of my car.  As soon as I opened the door I could see it coming.  It was several objects burning in the sky with 6-7 separate streaks.  It was a dark night and no moon.  It was perfectly clear where I was and I thought I was just looking at a huge screen TV.  The height seemed to be that of a commercial jet but this was much larger.  It didn't remind me so much of a meteor as it did space junk.  I guess we'll find out more about that later.

It was just a coincidence that I stop at this particular time and place.  I probably would not have seen it or I would not have seen as much of it if I was still in the 4Runner.  Most of my report is in the report itself.  

So, what do you do when you see an 'event' of your own?  Well, I drove all night to go looking for some gold at Rye Patch so that is what I did.  That night I had to sleep.  The next night I had a chance to get on the computer and ask the question 'What was that?'  Where do you go, what do you do online to report something?  As it turns out you go to REPORT A FIREBALL at the American Meteor Society.

https://www.amsmeteors.org/

When you get there you can click on Report a Fireball.  You will get asked a series of questions to describe what you saw in a technical way that will let the software develop a map of the event as you and hopefully many others saw it.  You can upload pictures and video.  You can also search for events from all over the world.

So, I reported and I didn't see my report with the others.  As it turned out there is a pending report file and if you don't state it as they are compiling it then your report will not be added.  I now knew my event number was 4094 so I edited my report and it was added to the 29 others and still counting.

It was a very, very neat experience.  The video now posted on YouTube is only 1/100th of what I saw.  I had better than a front row seat.  I was in the middle and there were no heads or clouds in my way!

Here is the report link:

https://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2018/4094

Here is the video:

https://www.amsmeteors.org/videos/?video_id=1445

 

Mitchel

[Lunk]

Way cool! Most don’t get the opportunity to witness an event like that their entire lifetime. Thanks for posting Mitchel.

[Randy Lunn]

An amazing experience Mitchel. Thank you for posting and educating us on how to report these rare events. I also hope you had a successful trip to Rye Patch.

[Steve Herschbach]

Wow, that would be amazing sight!!

[mn90403]

This is what I saw.  There is still more of it out there.

https://watchers.news/2018/10/19/iridium-satellite-fuel-tank-crash-california-october-2018/ 

[mn90403]

Simon ... the space junk is quite a sight.  

It was like winning a piece of the lottery but ... I'd take a piece of out lottery from last night because it was 1 billion dollars!

I don't even know if I am a winner yet on that one but I certainly take the sky lottery forever.

Mitchel

[mn90403]

I just saw that there was a rocket stage re-entry observed and caught on video.  When I looked at it it reminded me of the front row seat I had for the iridium.  The multiple pieces I saw with some of them tumbling is still something I think about often when I'm out in the desert at night.

https://www.livescience.com/falcon-9-burn-up-meteor-shower-2021.html?utm_source=notification 

[okara gold]

That must have been the best thing to see. Thanks for sharing!

[mn90403]

This is close to what I saw but I was much closer and it came directly at me and then passed by me on a clear night and you could see pieces tumbling!  It had separated by the time it reached me like the end of this video but it was low and getting near the end of visibility except for the lead piece which must have been more dense as it just cruised on into the darkness.