NUFORC Sighting 124701

Occurred: 2015-12-14 22:17 Local
Reported: 2015-12-15 13:05 Pacific
Duration: 1-2 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Broken Arrow, OK, USA

Shape: Other
Characteristics: Lights on object, Left a trail

Thin "streak" of light, white/yellow/red banding.

I had just exited the rear door of my house (faces north) and was heading toward my camper (which I keep parked in my backyard.) I was walking across my backyard headed in a north-easterly direction. I looked up in the sky, towards my right, at the constellation Orion. It was a clear night. No clouds in the sky at all. I had just located the three stars in his “belt” when I noticed a streak of light in the sky to my right.

I turned just in time to see the light, which was heading downward towards the ground, disappear behind the roof of my house. It began approximately 60 degrees above the horizon in the southern sky. It traced a straight path downward and angled slightly to the west. The whole event lasted only a second or two.

I have seen meteors and fireworks and such. I also have my private pilot's license and work in an aviation-based industry so I am familiar with aircraft lighting. This was definitely not an aircraft and it didn't appear to be a meteor either.

What was peculiar was the coloration. It could be described as a streak of light. The upper portion was white, then there was a band of yellow, and, finally, the portion closest to the ground was red. From my vantage point, the streak was only a few millimeters thick, but was 10 centimeters or so in length. This gave me the impression it was dozens of kilometers away.

It disappeared behind the roof of my house. I paused for a moment to see if it would return and I walked around the side of the house to a less obstructed view to see if, perhaps, it had “crashed” and created a fireball. The object did not make any noise, but that didn't surprise me as I stated earlier it appeared to be at a good distance away from me.

I saw nothing further that night. I know the time to be 10:17pm as I looked at the clock when I entered my camper. Today, I have searched the internet and local news outlets to see if, perhaps, someone else had reported the event and it could be easily explained as a meteor or some space “junk”, but as yet I have not come across any other sightings.

NUFORC Note:

Possible meteor?? PD

Posted 2015-12-17