NUFORC Sighting 82671

Occurred: 2010-05-24 21:00 Local
Reported: 2011-07-23 12:30 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: St. Catharines (Canada), ON, Canada

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Changed Colo

Dazzling fireball drifts over St. Catharines

This sighting occurred on the evening of May 24, 2010 which is a national holiday (Queen Victoria’s birthday) and a traditional fireworks night.

Our house is located on the side of the Niagara Escarpment (near the top) where we have a due north view over the city of St. Catharines to Lake Ontario.

Right around 9 pm it was getting dusk and I went to the north facing window in our bedroom to see if any fireworks were starting. A soon as I pulled up the blind, right there - less than 100 metres away - was a glowing red ball.

I immediately thought it was a typical fireball fired from a roman candle. Then I noticed it was hanging there; neither rising nor falling. Within seconds a real red fireball fired from a roman candle shot into the air within 25 metres of my original ball and then fell back to earth. Then a green fireball did the same thing. This didn’t seem to perturb the original ball at all as it moved very slowly to the left (west) and at a slight incline (no more than 30°).

It continued on this trajectory and pace and went behind a large tree. At that point I went around the west side of our house and stood on my front stoop as the fireball slowly moved off. As I was standing there, pondering what it was, one of the neighbourhood kids hollered out, "“Hey, look. A UFO!", and it disappeared behind trees in the distance.

The fireball was about the size of a subway token held at arm’s length (slightly smaller than a dime). The best description I can come up with: It dazzled, because it was more than a glow. The colour varied between a solid red to a dazzling orange/yellow. The "fire" was completely contained within the ball. No rays projected beyond the edges. If I had to estimate, I’d guess it was about the size of a basketball.

It travelled very serenely and was not apparently disturbed by any wind gusts. From my perspective, it did not make any changes in course and travelled off at a walking pace, 3 or 4 km per hour maximum. There was no sound from the object.

The whole episode lasted from 3 to 5 minutes.

Posted 2011-08-07

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