NUFORC Sighting 66871

Occurred: 2008-11-12 09:15 Local
Reported: 2008-11-12 22:16 Pacific
Duration: 20 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Long Beach, CA, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Aircraft nearby

Fireball moves slowly across the sky, puses, then changes directions - Long Beach, CA

Object moved slowly from approximately 45 degrees above the SE horizon toward the NW. It paused at about 80 degrees to the S for approximately 4 minutes. I called for my wife to get our 1000x video camera and the binoculars. Binoculars were too shaky. It moved S to N, again slowly. I was able to video it for a few seconds because of the shakes. It was a very bright red with white center fireball but I couldn’t make out any distinctive features of it. After it had passed over head to the Northern sky it faded out of sight at about 45 degrees to the horizon. If I would have to say it was something for certain I would say a flare attached under a bag or something. The altitude, however, was very high. When it appeared to not be moving it could very well have been moving up instead of directionally horizontal. I don’t really know. I did video it briefly but the video isn’t clear enough to determine what it was. I do live right in the flight path of an airport (within 2 miles). I know how they move through the sky. This object had no FAA lighting. A few planes flew W to E near and what appeared to be under the object. They didn’t seem to take note of it.

Posted 2009-01-10