Comments on: California-Nevada Fireball January 17, 2013

By: amsadmin

amsadmin — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 22:37:08 +0000

Bob,

Thanks for your report. Whoever called this a comet is mistaken. Comets are different than meteors in that they lie far from the Earth and are visible for months on end. Meteors are particles of comets and asteroids that enter the atmosphere and usually disintegrate within a few seconds, much like your description of the object you witnessed.

Sincerely,

Robert Lunsford
American Meteor Society

By: Bob Young

Bob Young — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 05:40:04 +0000

I live in San Jose.
The light from the meteor (it was actually a comet, as it turns out) WOKE ME UP!
I watched it for 3 seconds before it burned out.
Here’s the story (I was interviewed by a San Jose Mercury News reporter) as it appeared in the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_22396898/did-you-see-it-exploding-meteor-lights-bay

By: Chris Gardner

Chris Gardner — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:33:10 +0000

I didn’t think to look this up until our recent meteor activity. I was Driving North bound on I-5 entering Orange county from San Diego County around 5:20 am. The meteor was very large compared to a typical falling star, white light and coming straight down. It ended abruptly in about the middle of my horizon with clearly no impact. However, I thought it was much closer to the Los Angeles area than other reports would indicate. It looked like it was right over LA. Clearly not the case if people in N. Cal saw it while North bound.

By: Alan Johnson

Alan Johnson — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:40:47 +0000

I reside in SW Idaho. Early the morning of 16 January 2013, at around 12:15 am MST, a brilliant, moderately large meteor sped across the southwestern sky. I haven’t seen it being reported anywhere.

By: brian lavette

brian lavette — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:59:17 +0000

was walking down my driveway to get morning paper. i was facing north and to my left and up i saw it very bright but greenish and blue with a kinda white fireball leaving a trail. ive seen plenty of meteors and even sattelites re-enter, but at first i thought it might have been a rocket or misslie coming in. i was looking in the direction of vandenburg afb and have seen their rockets going out, never in.im in north san diego county in valley center. im still not fully convinced it was a meteor. was very unique!

By: Don Machholz

Don Machholz — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:24:21 +0000

I was out comet hunting from Colfax CA, when the field of view, the sky and the surrounding area lit up briefly. I pulled back from the telescope, put on my glasses and looked up to see the resulting train high in my SE. Green in color. The train took several minutes to fade away. No sounds were heard.

By: marisol

marisol — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:44:21 +0000

1/24/2013 @round 1030 I just saw a what appears to be a big ball of fire well something bight redhot fallen from the sky what was that? * Orlando Florida, orange county

By: R

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:39:45 +0000

Wow, I saw it, too. Around 5:20 a.m. I was northbound on Hwy 5 in southern California. I saw a bright flash and a long slow streak north/northwesterly through the sky. I’ve never seen one that bright or last that long. Simply remarkable and beautiful. I feel very luck to have glimpsed it.

By: Debbie Colcleasure

Debbie Colcleasure — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 03:09:33 +0000

On Thursday morning Jan. 17, at approximately 5:20 am. I was driving to work from Lincoln Ca to Roseville on 65, when I saw this wide brilliant orange streak across the sky. It was long, wide and seemed to slowly fade away even though it was probably only seconds. It was beautiful and awesome! Possibly a once in a life time sighting.

By: amsadmin

amsadmin — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:20:19 +0000

Stephanie and All,

Looks like you saw a fireball, which is a larger than normal meteor. We have 4 other witnesses in our fireball table that witnessed your object. Look under event #102 for 2013.

Robert Lunsford
American Meteor Society

By: Clint Rhoades

Clint Rhoades — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 02:47:56 +0000

January 17th 2013 at 6:20 am mountain time. This has to be the same event I witnessed. The times match up great. I was driving south about 10 miles west of Burley Idaho when i saw a bright green streak cross the sky that appeared to be heading west. It only lasted a split second. If i was to hold my hand streached out in front of my face to judge the size of the tail I would have to say it was about an inch wide. It was pretty cool to see.

By: Rustin Moyer

Rustin Moyer — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 22:02:18 +0000

I had just backed out of my driveway in Reedley, CA, and was heading north to the gym at 5:20 am when my car and the street around me lit up in a flash of white light. I looked up in time to see a bright white ball with double tails through the blue sun band in my windshield shoot north for a couple of seconds and then extinguish. I wondered if I had really seen a huge meteorite, but when I got to the gym, a friend of mine there asked if I had seen it, too. It was amazing!