Fireball report

Reports Report 1409e (Event 1409-2023)

This report has been linked to the following event: Event 1409-2023

Observer
Name	Lisa H
Experience Level	2/5
Remarks	The way it burst at the end, the closest thing I can describe that to, is sort of like when a couple decades ago, I once saw a transformer explode that lit up my entire town, and although this was nothing compared to that, the color and way this descending fireball just suddenly swelled, and burst into this intense light white/blue light that then seemed to suck back in and vanish just as rapidly as it appeared, it just reminded me of an electrical arc explosion, but at a way lesser intensity and magnitude and did not light up the whole sky, but it was certainly bright enough to leave some retinal afterburn for a couple seconds in my eyes like somebody taking your picture with bright camera flash.

Location
Address	San Diego, CA
Latitude	32° 42' 37.26'' N (32.71°)
Longitude	117° 9' 7.63'' W (-117.15°)
Elevation	13.27m

Time and Duration
Local Date & Time	2023-03-03 23:31 PST
UT Date & Time	2023-03-04 07:31 UT
Duration	≈3.5s

Direction
Moving direction	From up right to down left
Descent Angle	252°

Moving
Facing azimuth	318.04°
First azimuth	277.08°
First elevation	18°
Last azimuth	328.04°
Last elevation	10°

Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude	-18
Color	Light Blue, White

Concurrent Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Delayed Sound
Observation	No
Remarks	-

Persistent train
Observation	No
Duration	-
Length	-
Remarks	-

Terminal flash
Observation	Yes
Remarks	Very faint blue but mostly bright white and fast moving low on horizon (like it came from over my apartment roof and then travelled through the air in a very shallow arch suddenly bursting huge into a bright blue and white flash before it even dropped below the downtown skyline) and then right before it vanished, it swelled suddenly into this big 4-point starburst pattern with an even brighter light blue turning to white flash so bright it burned its image into my retina for a few seconds as I was sort of trying to figure out if I was still seeing it and so closed my eyes and realized it's like when somebody takes your picture with the camera flash on. It had no fragmented sparkle trail but it was so bright it was almost looked like it left a solid laser trail probably just because it was so bright it was burned into my retina too, as I don't think it actually left a trail, and was just so bright to look at it. It was definitely brighter than the moon, but not as bright as the sun, and it just seemed big, and close, because it looked like it came from over my roof and was going in such a shallow arch and then just swelled and disappeared before it could continue its descent to below the skyline of the buildings across the street and the burst happened with the tall buildings behind it still, it looked like this was all happening right above the downtown, and only a few blocks away from me. It was so bright and so close, I feel like others had to have seen this.

Terminal flash

Observation

Yes

Remarks

Very faint blue but mostly bright white and fast moving low on horizon (like it came from over my apartment roof and then travelled through the air in a very shallow arch suddenly bursting huge into a bright blue and white flash before it even dropped below the downtown skyline) and then right before it vanished, it swelled suddenly into this big 4-point starburst pattern with an even brighter light blue turning to white flash so bright it burned its image into my retina for a few seconds as I was sort of trying to figure out if I was still seeing it and so closed my eyes and realized it's like when somebody takes your picture with the camera flash on. It had no fragmented sparkle trail but it was so bright it was almost looked like it left a solid laser trail probably just because it was so bright it was burned into my retina too, as I don't think it actually left a trail, and was just so bright to look at it. It was definitely brighter than the moon, but not as bright as the sun, and it just seemed big, and close, because it looked like it came from over my roof and was going in such a shallow arch and then just swelled and disappeared before it could continue its descent to below the skyline of the buildings across the street and the burst happened with the tall buildings behind it still, it looked like this was all happening right above the downtown, and only a few blocks away from me. It was so bright and so close, I feel like others had to have seen this.

Fragmentation
Observation	No
Remarks	-