[The Cajun]

Could be the "sparkle trail" are pieces that broke off at high altitude (and continued to break up) and are "flying in formation" with the main body. They will tend slow up more quickly because of the surface area to mass ratio is and hence drag relative to mass is much larger, creating the "slant angle" effect you were looking for.

Now you got me thinking, could have been that way and I was just assuming they were *flaking* off the main body instead of flying in formation with it, interesting perspective.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I’ve seen (actually “analyzed”) radar tracks of the debris clouds from the Kosmos/Iridium collision and the USA-193/Aegis shoot down, as well as innumerable missile launches (and spent a couple months studying meteor trail backscatter clutter in HF radar) so your picture looked familiar, except you didn’t use matlab to draw it ;)

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

This video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZVBfiZvZos

might seem familiar. The difference in circumstances between a rock breaking up and loss of human life is stark, but the tracks are similar.

[X-spurt]

The green burn is reportedly from a copper meteor.