I live in Eastern California near the Nevada border, and one night some 25 years ago, I happened looked outside our back window while watching TV and saw the entire back yard lit up like a full moon was shinning, but the shadows where moving. I quickly ran outside just in time to see a huge fireball streaking across the sky accompanied by a roaring sound. It soon disappeared out of sight to the southwest, and I learned the next day that it crashed somewhere into the Pacific Ocean.
I wonder if that’s the same thing I saw in North San Diego County back about the same time. Was driving west on a long straight residential street when this blazing thing in the sky came from behind headed toward the ocean, lit up the area and made a big whooshing sound. None of my friends saw it and I couldn’t find any news coverage back then, but boy, did it make a big impression on me.