NUFORC Sighting 35069

Occurred: 2004-02-13 06:15 Local
Reported: 2004-02-14 12:41 Pacific
Duration: 45 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Left a trail, Changed Colo

Fireball near the beach on Vashon Island

At approximately 6:15 on February 13th I left my home on 55th and Dakota Street to go to work. On the corner of 55th and Genesee there is a lookout that looks toward Vashon Island. My father lives just below the KOMO radio towers, on Vashon, on the beach at Glen Acres. On this particular morning I noticed what appeared to be a bright fire on the beach near the location of his home. It was large enough that, from this distance, it looked to encompass an entire block of houses. I watched it for about 20 seconds before I continued through the turn to the East. It was still there as I cleared the next block and didn't disappear until I reached the next viewable location to the East. It was obvious, from the level of illumination, that the people who lived on the beach near Glen Acres had to have been awakened by the light. It was brilliant orange / yellow and the sun was still at a low elevation.

On Saturday, February 14th, I decided to call my father to determine if he had seen anything. To my surprise he was already excited with information that he was trying to relate along the same line. This conversation occured at approximately 11:20 am.

What he described was an unusual zig-zag contrail that traveled from above his house to a location near Snoqualmie Pass. He was quite enthralled with the unique nature of the contrail as it didn't resemble anything he has seen in the past. This was observed at or near sun-up on the morning of February 14th above Vashon Island's East side.

Posted 2004-03-02