Shooting Star or Something Else??

I'm not sure if this belongs under the ATS boards or the BTS boards but seeing the unusual nature of what I just witnessed, I think I'll post here.
Unfortunately, there is no photographic evidence of what I had just seen (everything happened very quickly), so you'll have to take my word for it.

As I was driving down my road back from college tonight (just a few minutes ago) I saw a very very brilliant bright green streak in the sky. Now, I know the comet caught on tape in Australia recently was green and looked similar to the object I had seen, except for one difference....it's movements were very unusual. When it first descended from the sky it took the usual route of a typical comet and/or shooting star. Here's the shocker...after it had appeared to have fallen to the ground below the tree lines, it shot back up following the original path.

At this point I'm terribly frightened, as I have no idea what I just witnessed. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before in my life.

I had called my friends to tell them what I had just seen, trying to describe it to them, and they totally called it off as hodge-podge.

Damn, I wish I could have caught this spectacular event on tape or even just a picture of it's unusual pattern.

Does anybody have any idea of what I could have just witnessed? It's beyond me....
And somebody can't tell me that the object I saw might have been 2 shooting stars in a row, because it wasn't. It was the same exact object that had fallen and then went back up and followed the path it came down in.

Where was this exactly? Did anyone else see it?

Looks very interesting but I cant seem to understand why the 'ufo' would shoot backwards. Unless it took a wrong turn and speeded back in reverse? I've never heard of anything like it.

Why green though.. you said there was a comet in australia that was also green.. I've never heard of anything being green.

Yuriko

Originally posted by Yuriko Oyama
Where was this exactly? Did anyone else see it?

Looks very interesting but I cant seem to understand why the 'ufo' would shoot backwards. Unless it took a wrong turn and speeded back in reverse?

I've never heard of anything like it.

Why green though.. you said there was a comet in australia that was also green.. I've never heard of anything being green.

Yuriko

Yes, the footage of the comet recently caught on film in australia was a bright vivid green color (just like the christmas light color...bright and very intense green).

Nobody else witnessed it, as I was driving home alone from college for christmas break. (Finished finals earlier than expected)

I also wondered if it's uncommon to see meteors/comets or whatever the heck I saw in my geographical location this time of the year. I'm from Northeast United States, New England areas, not near the ocean by inland. (if that bit of information helps any)

EDIT: Updated: I did further research and found that Geminid meteor showers are happening around this time. But that doesn't explain the strange path of what I witnessed.

[edit on 12/12/2005 by jeepin4x4girl]

Interesting. I don't know if your area is more common for meteors or not but I've never heard about meteors being there.

Yeah, the path also perplexes me.

Oo. That reminds me. Did you hear anything? Even a slight roar you might have ignored otherwise or airplane noise?

I once saw a meteor/comet and I was in Colorado visiting my uncle and was taking advantage of the hot tub! I had the massager things on but I started hearing an airplane or something so I looked up and I saw a meteor/comet thingie that flew by very very fast and then it went beyond the horizon and I saw a lot of light like there was an explosion. I didn't head anything about it except I remember someone mentioning that there was a meteor bigger than a car found somewhere. I think it was the one I saw.

That's why I ask about the noise because my hot tub was very loud.. I couldn't hear myself speak if I tried and yet I heard that so yeah.

Anyone have any ideas?

Yuriko

Sounds like you saw a "Fireball". It's something like a miniature comet. As it comes through the atmosphere, the inner and outer layers turn to plasma due to the intense heat - resulting in a greenish glow.

I have seen one before. A Fire Alarm was pulled in my residence at 3:30am - and we all had to get out. It was horrible. However, I now covet it - because while I was outside, I looked up, and by chance I saw a ball of green streaking down. Most people outside didn't know what it was, so I told them about it. It was really cool.

However, what you described is also somewhat different. You say it changed directions. I do have a theory that could explain it.

You see, whilst I was watching my Fireball, it broke up a bit, and a piece seemed to trail sideways away from it (though only for a few moments before totally evaporating). It's possible that the mini-comet that you saw also fragmented - and that somehow a piece of it was sent in the opposite direction. Since it went behind tree-tops, you probably missed the part where it split up.

You can confirm this by saying that it seemed to wink out of existance, or that it "shivelled up". That would qualify it for either cooling down enough that it wasn't "on fire" anymore - or that it was completely evaporated.

Covet the memory! Chances are you shall not see its like again!

My thinking is meteor. I saw a couple of brief shooting stars this evening. I think we're in the leonids about now. Cant remember, better check the old astronomy software.

Sunday morning (12-11-05) I saw the same thing minus the return trip. It was still dark and I was driving west just outside of Salem Oregon and it was in front of me to the right a little. It was a thin green streak that was very fast and traveling straight down toward the horizon although it disappeared before it got that low. It was also quite long and only lasted a split second. I've seen a lot of shooting stars and some pretty spectacular ones but have never seen anything like it.

[edit on 12/13/2005 by beezwaxes]

[edit on 12/13/2005 by beezwaxes]

I believe the next two nights will be the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. 10pm eastern was supposed to be the time that the activity will start to become visible to the naked eye. I believe during the next two night you can see something like 100 or so shooting stars per hour. The Geminid meteor showers started a few days ago I think too...

I'll have to go look up the link for you..but maybe one of our space experts can confirm above or not.

found some links..
Geminid meteor shower

Meteors in Moonlight: Geminid Shower Peaks on December 13th

and yes, you could see meteors before the peak dates of tonight and tomorrow.

[edit on 12-13-2005 by worldwatcher]

Is this the video you were talking about?

www.ebaumsworld.com...

Yup, that's a fireball - pretty much what I saw, except the one I saw moved slower - but that could be because it was a clear night, and I could see its full movement.

If this is what you saw jeepin4x4girl, then yes, you saw a fireball. Incredible, aren't they?

Thanks Worldwatcher. You beat me to it. just did the comps. Geminids. Viewing times vary within ten days either direction of the peak. Because of the 2 orbital paths not being exact circles the density of the cluster at the time we pass through varies. Thats why some years are better than others for viewing. Here in the northern hemisphere the best times are after midnight.
Go outside now and your likely to see a falling star or two.

Great post, worldwatcher!

Aside from that: COMETS ARE NOT METEORS and they look nothing alike when crossing the sky. Sorry, that just bothers me and no one corrected it yet. Carry on.

As for seeing it "go back up the original path" I think you have have been seeing things. It could have just been an optical illusion caused by the lighte generated by the meteor passing through the astmosphere.

You're right - comets aren't meteors - because comets stay up in space, and meteors are things that fall to earth. We were just saying that Fireballs are like small comets that do fall to earth. And Comet Hale-Bopp was amazing (even if I was only in Grade 6 when it came...).

Jeep
That dosen't sound like a meteor to me and I have seen plenty and none of them have ever retraced their original path.

I don't feel you have any reason to be frightened.
That being said; we do seem to be entering a period of high strangeness, with statues crying blood and all.

Peace on Earth!!
Good will to men!!

Wow. That video was.. creepishly beautiful.

What exactly is a fireball.. how is it different than a meteor?

Yuriko

Originally posted by Yuriko Oyama
What exactly is a fireball.. how is it different than a meteor?

It's just a type of meteor... Most are tiny specks of dust and debris that are destroyed upon contact with the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Fireballs are generally larger (that one was the size of a basketball) and survive deeper into the atmosphere, leaving a long trail of smoke and fire.

Originally posted by KidOK
Is this the video you were talking about?

www.ebaumsworld.com...

Yes! That is exactly what I saw, same color intensity and path etc. except for the return path of it was different.

Very interesting....as somebody else had posted, I should forever hold that moment in my memories, as it was a rare occurance.

Strange and beautiful.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
As for seeing it "go back up the original path" I think you have have been seeing things.
It could have just been an optical illusion caused by the lighte generated by the meteor passing through the astmosphere.

Or it could have been exactly what he / she saw, perhaps.!!!

This is an old thread here, but it came up nonetheless when I tried searching "reverse shooting stars". I was searching this because very recently, on Jan. 1, 2009, around 6 PM (it was already dark), I saw what I can only describe as a shooting star, except it was traveling in reverse...it quickly shot upward on an angle, then disappeared. I mentioned it to my family riding in the car at the time, but no one else noticed it. The sighting only lasted 1 or 2 seconds. Very quick, no time to even photograph it. On a different message board, where I mentioned what I saw, someone advised me that this same thing was reported as being seen over locally notorious Clinton Road in northeastern NJ some years ago. That person felt what they witnessed was a UFO. I am very open-minded (having seen what I believe to be UFOs twice in my past), so I believe what I saw could have been a UFO, or perhaps there is a logical or scientific explanation to it...I am open to that as well. This seems to be a rare type of sighting, b/c I am finding very little information on this. I am 47 years old, by the way.

Originally posted by one_small_step

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
As for seeing it "go back up the original path" I think you have have been seeing things.
It could have just been an optical illusion caused by the lighte generated by the meteor passing through the astmosphere.

Or it could have been exactly what he / she saw, perhaps.!!!

And if I keep trying to jump as high as I can, maybe I'll end up in orbit with one of my attempts...

cmdrkeenkid as the right idea...

When a meteoroid enters our atmosphere, it often leaves behind what is known as a 'persistent train', which disappears quite quickly in most cases. The pace at which the train disappears is dependent on the brightness of the meteor. Bright trains take longer to disappear.

In most cases meteors vary in brightness along their path, so some parts of the train last longer than others. Often meteors reach a peak of brightness somewhere near the mid-point in their trajectory, and after that, they dim fairly uniformly (though this is not always the case, and every meteor is unique).

So in a case like this, the persistent train left behind would last longest at the mid-point in the path, and progressively less towards the ends. As the train fades, it creates the illusion of something traveling backwards.

Edit to add: I've uploaded an example of a Leonid fireball leaving a bright persistent train here. I'm not sure if it's what the OP saw, but I think it's a more likely possibility than one that relies on the laws of physics being broken.

[edit on 10-1-2009 by C.H.U.D.]