NUFORC Sighting 100585

Occurred: 2013-07-27 22:15 Local
Reported: 2013-07-28 19:06 Pacific
Duration: 30 seconds
No of observers: 4

Location: Chagrin Falls, OH, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

Single constant, bright orange fireball flying silently south to north on a cloudy night, below the cloud layer.

My wife, aunt, son and myself witnessed a very bright amber/orange ball moving at about the rate of a jet plane descending toward a local airport. It flew below a thick cloud deck and was in clear view. There were no flashing lights, or headlights or the typical red & green nav lights we see on planes. It was silent and appeared as a "fireball" for lack of a better term. The light it emitted was constant until the last 2 or 3 seconds of the event. It traveled from the south, due north directly overhead.

We watched it approaching, move overhead and then away from us - again, no flashing lights or landing lights of any kind. As it flew toward the north, it got dimmer and dimmer until it just vanished - like a match burning out.

I might surmise it was a meteor; but it was below the cloud deck and unobscurred. A meteor at such a low altitude would be moving extremely fast. This object moved at a rate similar to an airplane we saw concurrently! coming from the east, and at a higher altitude. So this object was moving slower than a jet coming in on approach.

Posted 2013-08-30