NUFORC Sighting 82618

Occurred: 2011-07-15 21:30 Local
Reported: 2011-07-21 15:52 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Stevens Point, WI, USA

Shape: Fireball


Second Addendum to report filed July 15th, 2011

July 19th, 2011. Aprox. 9:30 PM. Two neighbors and I observed an orange fireball, slowly traveling East to West in the northern sky. Toward the Northwest, it stalled and faded out. We all agreed it was a Chinese lantern. One of the neighbors said he had recently seen Chinese lanterns being launched from Emerson Park, which is Northeast of my neighborhood. The appearance and probable point of origin of this July 19th "fireball" matched what I, a neighbor, and his daughter observed on July 3rd (traveling North to South in the eastern sky), as well as what I observed on July 15th (traveling East to West and then turning North, almost directly overhead).

So I'm now convinced my July 15th sighting was a Chinese Lantern. Not an extraordinary object, but an ordinary one displaying an extraordinary flight path and characteristics (likely due to the interaction of winds at altitude).

Posted 2011-08-07

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