NUFORC Sighting 65003

Occurred: 2008-08-02 02:00 Local
Reported: 2008-08-04 13:55 Pacific
Duration: 6 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Stockton, CA, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Changed Colo

On 08/02/2008 at approximately 2AM, my passenger and I witnessed a large burning object falling SW near Cal State Univ. - Stockton

While driving NE on a Hwy 4 connector road on Friday, August 2nd at approximately 2AM, my passenger and I witnessed a large burning object falling SW from the sky and seeming to land near the campus of Cal State University, Stanislaus-Stockton in the city of Stockton, California Since we were en route to our destination, we did not exit to observe where this object landed, but instead called 911 to file a report the incident while continuing to drive on Hwy 4.

At first we thought it was a falling star and then I said falling stars skim the atmosphere! Then we thought possibly a meteor, but did not see any explosion or fire from the landing.

As we continued to drive, we did a relative size comparison such as: bigger than my Honda CR-V car tire, bigger than a merge sign, bigger than the small bushes lining the highway. From the distance that we saw the object, we agreed that it was approximately as big as a small car such as a Metro or similar. The shape was hard to determine due to the trail of fire.

The flames were coming up from the head and there was a short flame tail behind it. The color was bright white when we first saw it at approximately 1,000 feet up and then became a greenish color (which my passenger commented was the color of a hot object cooling down).

I have been unable to locate any news reports of this incident on the internet, newspapers or local TV news websites.

Posted 2008-08-12