The catalog
Sightings
Witness reports, held as-reported. Each entry keeps its source, its coordinates where the record has them, and its place in the larger pattern.
9,368 entries
July 5, 2014 · 10:45 PM · FIREBALL
Scottsdale, AZ
Moved off in the distance and continued to seemingly burn bright orange. Simply faded. Not because of distance away but the light slowly dimmed and disappeared. Just gone. It was substantial in size when first observed. Crazy..
July 5, 2014 · 10:40 PM · FIREBALL
Philadelphia, PA
Me and My Father were on the porch talking, when I noticed an Orange light in the sky. I told my father, he turned around and saw it. I then grabbed binoculars and aimed them at the object. It looked like Saturn at first with a ring, then it turned and we saw what looked like a yellow light dropping out of the object. Then, it went further away from us at fast speeds until it disappeared.
July 5, 2014 · 10:30 PM · FIREBALL
East Islip, NY
My friend and I were standing in the street in East Islip, NY, at approximately 10:30 PM last night (July 5th)when he pointed over my head towards the Northern sky and said, Look at that! What the heck is that? I turned around to see what he was pointing at and saw what looked like a single, large orange glowing fireball traveling horizontally across the sky. We both are very familiar with the appearance of all types of air traffic at night, as he lives a few miles from McArthur Airport and I live right under the approach path for La Guardia Airport. We agreed that this was no aircraft that we had ever seen before. There were no blinking marker lights or any engine sound whatsoever. It appeared to be a ball of orange colored fire. Although we were unable to determine the object's exact altitude, I would estimate it to be around 2500 feet and, for it to travel the distance that it did in 2-3 minutes, it must have been traveling at a speed equal to or greater than large commercial aircraft that I have observed approaching JFK or La Guardia. The object continued to glow a bright orange and moved rapidly in an Easterly direction, growing smaller, until it disappeared from sight in a period of time of about 2-3 minutes.
July 5, 2014 · 10:15 PM · FIREBALL
Pottstown, PA
While waiting for fireworks to start we saw an orange ball move across the sky towards the north at a rapid speed. It slowed almost to a stop and shifted east. It then disappeared. It was a blurry orange ball with no flashing lights or any other visible markings. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 5, 2014 · 10:15 PM · FIREBALL
Springfield, MO
I was outside of my work having a smoke break when I saw a fireball. It was moving slowly from the south moving north. I watched it for 10 seconds then I pulled out my phone and tried to film it. I caught it on camera for 2 seconds, then I lost it in my frame. I looked up from my phone and it was gone.
July 5, 2014 · 10:00 PM · FIREBALL
Johnsburg, IL
Heading from my grandparents house in Johnsburg out on to chapel hill road near the Johnsburg Bank. As my friend pulled up to the stop sign I noticed, what appeared to be, a flying fireball. It moved very slowly over the tree line. I pointed it out to everyone in the car and no one could identify it. We pulled away before it moved out of view. It resembled a craft that we, as group, had seen before that flew over my grandparents house the weekend before. (I will file another report on that incident)
July 5, 2014 · 10:00 PM · FIREBALL
Wallingford, CT
Went out to bring trash to front yard and happened to look up and saw a burning red object heading north at a speed much faster then a passenger plane it was definitely on fire and not aircraft lights. It went burning until I couldn't see it any more and I also ran to get my cell phone to video it so I have a few moments of it flying through the sky.
July 5, 2014 · 10:00 PM · FIREBALL
Lanett, AL
red ball moving north to south over lanett, al. watched from car. disappeared all at once sfter passing over at speed.
July 5, 2014 · 10:00 PM · FIREBALL
Williamstown, VT
My six yr old though she was seeing a falling star and when we turned to look we saw a bright orange colored ball and it went faster and just disappeared. Five of us saw this and all agreed it was not a star or plane but something unknown. .
July 5, 2014 · 10:00 PM · FIREBALL
Norwalk, CT
Glowing red fireball floated from west to east, floating around the sky with no specific pattern or direction. Finally couldn't see anymore once it went further east due to trees and houses blocking view. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 5, 2014 · 9:45 PM · FIREBALL
Columbus, OH
My family and I were waiting for the fireworks to start and we look up and notice a red orb (fireball) flying towards us from the NE moving in a SW pattern and is slowly drifted over us and then disappeared. This orb was higher in altitude than the ones I was the weekend prior while camping in Lakeview, OH. All the objects I have seen in the past week have been round and red. Wonder if these are drones? Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 5, 2014 · 9:35 PM · FIREBALL
Cherry Hill, NJ
We were sitting outside in our yard, when I noticed what appeared to be a huge orange fireball sailing across the sky, it appeared to be traveling at the speed of an airplane or faster, but it was not an airplane or anything like that. It appeared to be an orange fireball, no other shape could be detected. Definitely not anything I have ever seen in the sky before, and there were no fireworks that appeared before or after and no sound created by the fireball, such as an airplane would make, or fireworks would make. No sound, just the fireball sailing through the sky. At first, I wondered if it could be a drone, but it just looked like a fireball, then we thought it was a meteor that was going to fall some where. Definitely, not a shooting star! It was a bright orange fireball traveling across the sky at a pretty fast speed.
July 5, 2014 · 9:30 PM · FIREBALL
Windham, NH
We were watching the fireworks over Canobie lake and my daughter noticed something in the sky. When we all looked up, there was a sphere going across the sky right above the tree line. The color was like a fire. It was moving to slow to be a meteor and to fast to be a Chinese lantern. Never seen anything like this in my life. Very strange, but cool to observe.
July 5, 2014 · 9:30 PM · FIREBALL
Corpus Christi, TX
My wife and I were sitting on front porch enjoying the cool wind and we noticed a red yellow light traveling from south to north and seemed like moving slow. We both thought of it as odd. Then faded away before reaching the horizon. Three more followed same path as they disappeared. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 5, 2014 · 9:20 PM · FIREBALL
Pittsburgh, PA
I was driving south on I-279 from Cranberry twp to bellevue, just north of Pittsburgh. There were several fireballs moving in a north east direction. Due to driving I was unable to observe for long period of time. Appear very similar to other fireball sightings made on NUFORC over past several years. A very similar sighting was made by my in laws in columbiana county ohio, august of 2013.
July 5, 2014 · 9:15 PM · FIREBALL
Billerica, MA
We were having a party in our backyard when approximately 9:15pm I noticed a good size fireball floating directly over our yard and house. I called it to everyone's attention and no one could agree on what it was. A second one floated by within a couple minutes... We were all watching it glowing and moving at a similar pace that you would see a plane move but I don't believe it was anywhere near as high. We were all talking about it for the next 5-10,minutes and a third one came over. Same as last two...and it was the last one we saw...and we were out there until 11pm.
July 5, 2014 · 9:00 PM · FIREBALL
Lake Oswego, OR
A large fireball that looked like a blimp and gradually got smaller until it disappeared.
July 5, 2014 · 8:30 AM · FIREBALL
Steam Corner, IN
I did some research on the area and found out that they have evening hot air balloon rides in the area and they also released 100 Chinese lanterns for the 4th of July. Probably Chinese lanterns. They didn't move, no sound, they just hovered in the night sky. It caused us to slow our car down considerably which was lucky because we were about to hit a few deer. When we slowed down they ran in the opposite direction. My son took a few photos but they didn't come out well because we were in the car and he isn't used to his cell phone yet. Only one of the photos showed 2 of the 'orbs'. They just look like orange lights...I suppose that's what Chinese lanterns look like though. Then next time we drive home on RT 41 from Turkey Run State Park, we'll be sure to look for them. I'll bet they'll be there next year at the same time/same place! :) Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 5, 2014 · 12:30 AM · FIREBALL
Xenia, OH
I was sitting on the back of my friend’s truck just talking when we saw a glowing orange ball of light directly above us heading south west. This object was traveling very quickly and moving in an erratic pattern. It was almost as if it was vibrating quite viciously. It continued to travel south west and would look as if it was slowing and speeding up. The ball of light also started to dim a little as it traveled. Once the object was about 35 degrees from the horizon, it slowed very rapidly and stopped completely. It then started to dim at a more rapid pace as if it was moving away and then suddenly disappeared. We initially thought that it may be an airplane or a shooting star or a meteor but I’ve never seen any of those move in a pattern as this light was and then miraculously just stop for around 30 – 45 seconds. We also thought about maybe a cloud got in the way but the sky was completely clear.
July 4, 2014 · 11:30 PM · FIREBALL
Redmond, OR
Me and my wife saw this bright red light moving at high altitude, seemingly moving slow. At its altitude, I had to be moving very fast. Similar to a satellite but satellites aren't bright red. The light was moving in a south south east as our house fades exactly north. We don't know what it was but I know it was not and airplane or helicopter but resembled a slow falling satellite until it went behind the trees. We suspect a flawed time. We have corrected the time to reflect an evening sighting. PD
July 4, 2014 · 11:15 PM · FIREBALL
Cottleville, MO
I saw a weird light in the sky at about 10 pm on 7/4/14. It was like a small fire in the sky. It was not a firework. It just hovered there above the tree line about a mile away. I dismissed it because we had just watched the firework display in Kirkwood Park. I drove home to Cottleville, Missouri, and walked out to my back yard around 11:15 and I saw 13 objects in the sky exactly like the one I saw in Kirkwood except these were moving slowly West at about the speed of a hot air balloon. There was no noise. They were all in a staggered formation at the same speed and remained equidistant from each other the entire time. A single object lagged behind the main group but didn't seem desperate to "catch up". Then 3 more appeared in a perfect triangle formation when they passed by and stayed that way until they disappeared. It looked clear in the middle of the triangle...so I'm confident it was 3 individual lights not connected to each other in any way. I looked for an outline around each object such as a parachute or balloon but I couldn't see any thing attached. The objects' altitude remained constant until they disappeared in the distance. It seemed like they slowly flickered out but I'm not sure...maybe they just faded into the distance. I can't imagine hot air balloons floating in the sky that late at night during a time when people are lighting off big fireworks in the neighborhood. Seems idiotic to me… And why did I see one earlier all the way southeast of where I was in Kirkwood just an hour earlier? So strange. It was eerie and confusing.
July 4, 2014 · 11:00 PM · FIREBALL
Waukegan, IL
SAW THREE FIREBALL COME FROM LAKE OVER FIREWORK VIEWING AREA. TWO RIGHT BEFORE ONE DURUNG FIREWORK SHOW AND FLY RIGHT ABOVE THE FIREWORKS ALL WITHIN ONE HOUR. AND THEN ME AND WIFE SAW THREE MORE FLY OVER US AGAIN WITHIN THE SAME HOUR TEN MILES AWAY ONE AFTER ANOTHER REALLY LOW AND THEN DISAPEARE FLYING HIGHER IN Kenosha, WI, AND I HAVE PICTURES,,
July 4, 2014 · 11:00 PM · FIREBALL
Chicago, IL
4 unidentified red lights flew in a form of a triangle. Two of them they seemed to take off at a very fast rate & just disappeared. Then 2 reappeared in a different areas of the sky. It only lasted about 15 min when they took off again & did not reappear.
July 4, 2014 · 11:00 PM · FIREBALL
La Porte, IN
While my son and I were watching fireworks in the area, looking out a window facing south, we saw a fireball that looked almost like an airplane on fire, slowly moving horizontally across the sky in an east to west direction, slowly descending, until it faded out of sight.