NUFORC Sighting 125627

Occurred: 2013-08-26 21:00 Local
Reported: 2016-02-04 09:54 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Tallahassee, FL, USA

Shape: Sphere

Floating flame, constant speed and direction (Chinese lantern)

Driving due east on Buck Lake Rd., just past Davis Drive, in Tallahassee, August 26, 2013, approx. 9 pm. Noticed what initially looked like a meteor up and to my left a bit, to the NE of me, while driving. Immediately knew it wasn't a meteor, due to its slow speed.

It was a fireball, sphere-shaped and maybe 25 feet in diameter, that was flickering, but in a sphere shape, not the normal upside-down tear shape a candle flame would have. It kept a constant speed (~90 mph), elevation (~1250 feet), and direction (~SSW) during the approximately two minutes I observed it.

I initially kept driving, before realizing I should pull over and record video on my phone. Unfortunately I waited too long to get anything close to "good" evidence, but I did manage to capture a few pixels and seconds worth of it. If I had to chart the thing's course on a map, it would be a straight line starting north of Buck Lake Rd, south of US Hwy 90, and a little east of Pedrick Rd. It would end somewhere around the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Capital Circle SW. All of this in or near the city limits of Tallahassee.

Video can be viewed here (the brighter lights are from a random house, at the corner of Buck Lake Rd and Dove Rd, I believe): http://1drv.ms/1SLgpUy

Posted 2016-02-04