NUFORC Sighting 03103

Occurred: 1996-04-15 05:11 Local
Reported: 1998-02-08 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 1.5 seconds


Location: Long Beach, CA, USA

Shape: Fireball


A Large Brilliant green fireball was seen "fall to earth" in the direction of the Long beach airport.There was no fire or evidence of a crash, so I assume the "craft/fireball" went into one of the many hangars present directly in the line of path of descent.

It was at approximately 05:11 in the morning that i was on the way to work, I had been driving north for about 45 minutes on the 405 FWY. The morning was dark and it was foggy, the general area was illuminated by the city lights and was not very bright. As i was passing the Sign indicating that the Lakewood blvd off ramp was coming up, I observed a brilliant green/white fireball with tail about the size of a silver dollar in my windshield. the angle of descent was approximately 40 degrees from left to right from the corner of my windsheild to approximately 6 inches above the base of my windsheild to about 3/4 of the windsheild along the base. It then totally disappeared. I estimate the distance approximately at 1-1.5 miles in front of me from where i was on the freeway The fog gave the fireball a fuzzy appearance around its perimeter. I tried to see if other drivers on the freeway had seen it, but at 70mph and in the darkness it was impossible to make eye contact with other drivers. >From the angle of descent and approximate distance, i judged that the Fireball must have gone in the direction of the many hangars that occupy that airport and also face the freeway. Note: the speed of descent was rapid as if it were falling at great speed. I was expecting a fire or crash in the area of the projected collision, but as i passed by , there were NO fires or explosions. I found out that there was no one in the tower at that time, so i could not verify my sighting with anyone. I checked radio news and newspapers at the time ,but no mention of a crash. MY guess is that it was no meteorite( it was too big and there would have been fire), is that it may have been one of our craft which may have been in trouble and had to "land" in the city under extraordinary conditions. I have since heard of fireballs in seattle and i figured i would finally report it to someone, I figured the police would not accept a report.

Posted 1999-01-28

© 2023 National UFO Reporting Center. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction within any application without written consent is prohibited.