NUFORC Sighting 04865

Occurred: 1998-10-29 06:30 Local
Reported: 1998-11-17 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 5 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Dublin (on U.S. Interstate 680 North), CA, USA

Shape: Circle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Left a trail

In early a.m., already a bit light, at about 45 degrees, a fireball steaked in front of me for about 5 seconds. I was driving about 65 mph. It was big and it was close. It was traveling from the northwest to the southeast. Most astounding was the bright apple-green color, the closeness, and the long tail.

I am a 47-year-old married woman with one teenage son. I publish a national, monthly trade magazine by profession and was on my way to a quarterly operations meeting in Auburn, CA, with my business partners. About one hour into my drive, directly in front of me at about a 45 degree angle, a large, very bright ball of fire streaked across the sky moving from northwest to southeast. I was driving about 65mph on CA Interstate 680 North on the southern outskirts of the City of Dublin. I was shocked at how close the fireball was. It's very difficult for me to judge but I would guess it was just two football fields away from me at a 45 degree angle. The center of the ball was the brightest white I've ever seen but the most remarkable aspect was the bright flourescent apple-green color around the ball and surrounding the long tail. After about five (5) long seconds it simply disappeared. I was stunned and looked at the car to my right in the lane next to me. A woman was looking at the very spot where the fireball had disappeared. For a brief second we just stared at each other. I shook my head and she made a gesture to indicate she saw it also. Though I didn't need confirmation as to what I had just seen, I was glad to be able to tell others that there was another witness. (I have seen one other object that was unusual but that was in June of 1971 in Estees Park in the Colorado Rocky Moutains. That ball of light moved at rapid speed, changing angles quickly, once shooting straight up into the air. I will reserve my following comments only to the object I saw most recently.)

Posted 2002-11-20