Fireball over Hollister, CA

The report, as filed

AT AROUND 10:30PM, I WAS LEAVING MY FRIEND'S HOUSE IN HOLLISTER. IT WAS A CLEAR NIGHT, EXCEPT FOR SOME SMOKE WHICH CAME FROM A FIRE LOCATED 30+ MILES TO THE WEST, NEAR CARMEL. THERE WAS NO MOON, YOU COULD SEE ALL THE STARS AND EVERYTHING. AS I WAS GETTING INTO MY CAR, I SAW TWO PASSENGER JETS THAT STOOD OUT BECAUSE THEY WERE FLYING ON A PATH THAT WASN'T ORDINARY. THE NORMAL AIR TRAFFIC TRAVELS FROM NORTH AND SOUTH TO THE BAY AREA, BUT THESE PLANES LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE FLYING LOW AND ONE TURNED AROUND, AND I THOUGHT MAYBE BECAUSE THERE MAY HAVE BEEN A LANDING DELAY OR SOMETHING. MY FRIEND STOPPED ME FROM GETTING INTO MY CAR BECAUSE HE NOTICED A RED LIGHT IN THE SKY. THE PLANES DIDN'T SHOW UP ON HIS FLIGHT RADAR APP ON HIS PHONE, WHICH IS WEIRD. IT WAS DIRECTLY SOUTH; IT SHOWED ON MY FRIEND'S COMPASS. THE LIGHT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS ASCENDING SLOWLY. WE WATCHED IT FOR ABOUT 1 MINUTE. MY FIREND WENT AND GRABBED HIS CAMERA AND BINOCULARS AND HOOKED UP A 65-MILLION CANDLE-POWER SPOTLIGHT, AND THEN THE RED LIGHT FADED OUT SLOWLY, JUST BEFORE MY FRIEND TURNED ON HIS SPOTLIGHT. BELOW AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE BIG DIPPER, AT ARM'S LENGTH, IT WAS SMALLER THAN A PENCIL ERASER, AND IT WAS STOP LIGHT RED COLOR. NO STANDARD FAA LIGHTS AND NOT THE USUAL NAVIGATION LIGHTS LIKE A USUAL JET DOES.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #128741). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.