NUFORC Sighting 15761

Occurred: 2000-07-31 21:00 Local
Reported: 2001-01-04 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 3-5 secs
No of observers: 2

Location: Hopewell, VA, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Left a trail

Two witnesses saw a huge neon-green fireball travelling parallel to the ground, behind treetops, near Richmond VA on I-295

Two witnesses in a car observed a large neon-green ball or fireball travelling at a high speed through the air. The car was travelling on I-295 from Richmond, VA towards Petersburg, VA between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. It was extremely dark because of a storm. I noted heat lightning. The green ball followed a path that was parallel to I-295, parallel to our direction of travel (towards Petersburg), and parallel to the ground surface. We could see about 2/3rds of the object behind the treetops adjacent to the highway. I am a 46 year old female with a PhD in geology. My passenger was a 10 year old Japanese American boy who shouted, "Look, Godzilla", when we both saw the object. My first impression was that it was a meteor, and looked like a speeding planet. But it was travelling parallel to the ground. Also, if a tail were present it was very small. There could have been small bubble-like features close to the ball.

Posted 2001-02-18