NUFORC Sighting 61712

Occurred: 2008-02-19 05:30 Local
Reported: 2008-02-19 17:09 Pacific
Duration: 2-5 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Sprague, WA, USA

Shape: Fireball

Suspected Meteor Impact

I observed what appeared to be a meteor in Washington State at 5:30 AM, February 19, 2007. I was West Bound on I-90 in the vicinity of Mile Marker 232. I saw a very bright flash of light in my drivers door window. I turned my head and observed one large yellow light with two smaller lights. One of the smaller lights appeared to be blue and the other a coppery bronze.

There was no observable lateral motion. All observable motions was either downward (which was my best guess) or directly away from me. I lost view of them without seeing impact either because they burned out or impacted below a small line of hills south of the Interstate in this area. The area of observation was dark as the moon was on the opposite side of my car in its setting phase.

The flash of light in my drivers door window surprised me and I immediately turned my head for fear something was coming through the median at me. It was high enough that I never saw in in my rear view mirror.

I am a retired AF flight crew member. I recognize that lateral displacement would indicate movement parallel with me and the lack of lateral movement would indicate movement directly towards me or away from me or straight down (which was my impression). In other words, I have been shot at and knew that if the light was steady on my canopy, I needed to move to get displacement.

Posted 2008-03-04