Posted on 12/29/2008 6:38:47 PM PST by RaceBannon
The streak is a radar streak which is due to weather radar backscatter. It is not uncommon with sensitive radar available today. If you look closely, you will see the left part of the streak points to a location on Long Island. This is the Upton, NY weather radar location (which coincidently looks to be located at Brookhaven National Lab). Here is a link to detailed discussion of such streaks and other anomalous images.
I’m down in NC, and I saw it. I happened to be out walking my dogs for the last time. Funny thing is, my dh called me from Afghanistan a few hours before, and he saw it too. Corny sounding, I know, but quite the coincidence IMO LOL.
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I read that the average person sees about one fireball per lifetime, so that was yours, Race.
I remember seeing an absolutely huge fireball, much brighter than the moon, almost as bright as the sun driving from Richmond to Williamsberg, VA on I-64 in the winter of 1987 about midnight. I heard it was visible from New York to North Carolina.
What time did you see it last night?
People on here saw something similar about 1 hour later, too! :)
that’s what I was wondering,t oo, but the time stamp on the radar...
It was 10 minutes later, but with condensation?
I think your explanation is closer, though
kind of curious how it is on two separate radars, though! :)
My wife and I saw it in Rhode Island. It was really magnificent!! We were just looking at the constellation of Orion and commenting about the stars in the bow when the shooting star came right through the constellation. It was multi-colored and huge. I think the fire ball that we saw was about half the diameter of the moon in appearance.
I'm in suburban Boston.
But still, what are the chances of RaceBannon seeing a shooting star going East to South East in the same area at about the same time that the 12-29-08 21:40 EST Upton, NY radar image shows a streak?
At this point, I'm more likely to agree with the shooting star theory than to with the weather radar backscatter theory to explain what happened last night.
bttt
Where we saw it in RI, it was at about 9:30 PM (EST) and traveled from East-Northeast to West-Southwest, through the constellation of Orion, right near the belt.
cool, was this at 9:30?
About five years or so ago, my daughter and I were leaving our house to walk to a local store. We lived near the center of Phoenix, Arizona at the time and saw about the same kind of thing as your huge shooting star. I was sure it would be reported on the news. To see something like that and it being visible in the city. Not a word. It was as if my daughter and I were the only two to see it.
Yes RaceBannon, it was at 9:30 PM. I checked my watch right after because I was certain I’d hear about the event in the news because it was so unusual.
It was around 10:30-11, but I’m not sure exactly what time. I’m in NC.
Kewel!!
:)
I wish.
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