[Finny]

No contrail. What we saw was a forked shape, like a V, coming off the rear of whatever it was (I'll say vehicle, because I've seen meteors and comets and it wasn't like either), and it stayed consistent with the forward motion of the vehicle, never lingering, never burning out, no contrail. Husband says it looked to him like a reentry burn. He's pretty well-informed on jets and aeronautics.

[null and void]

FWIW, more or less north of you are both Edwards AFB, and Area 51/Dreamland.

Maybe, just maybe you saw an Aurora?

[Kirkwood]

At low sun altitudes, contrails look like they are burning because they are highly reflective at that angle. Here we see persistent contrails, but highly reflective. Short contrail plus high altitude plane plus low sun would give you exactly what you saw.

[TXnMA]

I've read through the whole thread, and am inclied to take your observation seriously.

As a trained and experienced observer, I realize the impossibility of accurately estimating size, and speed when you know neither altitude nor horizontal distance, Having said that, do you have any feel for how far north it had traveled before it started its ?eastward? turn?

FWIW, have you observed a shuttle reentry or a SR-71 return from max altitude/speed? If so, how did it compare?

I know there are -- supposedly --no more SR-71s flying, but I seriously doubt that we haven't replaced the Blackbird and its capabilities with something with better performance...

Please keep us informed if you learn more about this phenomenon!