A detailed firsthand report of the Wisconsin fireball

Michael, I’m writing to you because I saw you discussing the recent meteor in Wisconsin on a Milwaukee news channel. I was very lucky to witness the entire spectacle, and I haven’t been able to find anyone else who saw the event in as much detail as I did, so I thought my story might provide you with valuable information.

On the night of Wednesday, April 14, 2010, I was waiting to leave our house to drive downtown and pick up my daughter Meghan from her dance class in Darlington. The class is held rather late this year; it ends at 10 p.m. But I’m not complaining because, if it weren’t for her class, I would not have been in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. At one point I looked at my watch and thought, “9:58? Oh no! I’ll probably end up being 5 or 10 minutes late!” Meghan hates it when she has to wait for me after her class. So I quickly ran upstairs, got in the car, and took off down the new gravel road that connects Tama Run Lane to Ravine Street.

Whenever I drive down that road, I always look out my driver’s side window at the sky. Sometimes, on clear days, I can see the Platteville Mound and the Belmont Mound. Or, depending on the time of year, I might see holiday lights. So there’s always something to look at, and I’m a creature of habit. Well that night I was looking at precisely the right place at the right time.

I had just passed a new home on the left, and as I looked out my window, I saw a bright star. I thought, “Hmm, a star — clear skies tonight!” I looked back at the road, and then back at the sky, and the “star” was brighter. I thought, “Wow! That is a bright star!” I didn’t think it was an aircraft because it didn’t appear to be moving in the sky at that time. I looked back at the road and then back at the “star” and noticed it got brighter and bigger as I was looking at it, but it still wasn’t moving in the sky. It occurred to me then that, whatever it was, it was coming toward my location.

Thinking back, it was about 25° off the horizon and, according to my map of Darlington, that spot in the sky was toward the northwest. As soon as I saw it grow brighter and bigger, I thought, “That has to be a Med Flight!” (Med Flight has some pretty bright lights that can suddenly become a lot brighter when the helicopter turns and they’re aimed in your direction.) So I stopped my car to look at “Med Flight.”

The bright light was getting bigger and bigger, and at that point I noticed it was a green light starting to move in the sky. In hindsight, the reason it was only then starting to move in the sky was because it was getting close enough to pass overhead. At that point it was too bright even for Med Flight. I realized it was not an aircraft and was coming directly toward my location! It had to be a meteor, I thought.

I opened my door and stepped one foot out of the car so I could poke my head out. It was even brighter and more green at that point, and about the size of the Full Moon, but bright enough to light up the entire sky. With my head outside the car, I was able to watch the huge meteor track across the sky one or two seconds longer before it exploded directly over my head! The explosion was like the brightest lightning — a brilliant flash of green and orange light. Immediately after the explosion, the meteor dimmed to just two faintly glowing orange projectiles that continued to track across the sky at the same velocity and trajectory.

According to my map, it would have been traveling northwest to southeast. I watched the glowing projectiles move across the sky until they were too faint to detect, which was about 20° away from the overhead explosion. It was over, and at that point I realized that I had witnessed what might prove to be the most amazing natural phenomenon I will every witness in my life. I yelled out a loud, “Woo-hoo!” I was very excited.

In all my years living in Wisconsin, I’ve always wanted to see a tornado, but I never have. Now, I can’t imagine any tornado sighting being more exciting than what I saw that night. I feel very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. I noticed the meteor when it was small and in the distance, no brighter than a bright star, and I was able to watch it almost constantly as it moved across the sky.

Some people in the area reported that they heard sonic booms, or a distant rumble like thunder, but I did not hear any of that; perhaps the noise of my running car and opening my car door obscured whatever sound the meteor was making. Originally, I estimated that what I witnessed lasted about 10 seconds, and that the explosion occurred about “a few thousand” feet overhead, based on the detail of the glowing projectiles I could see after the explosion.

I’ve since learned from news reports that the meteor’s visibility did indeed last 10-15 seconds, and the explosion was more like 10,000 feet in the air (about 2 miles). I’ve also since learned that a farmer from Livingston claims to have found a fragment of meteorite. Looking at my map, and based on my experience that night, the meteor surely traveled directly over Livingston, but it exploded above Darlington (about 5° from directly overhead, in the direction of Darlington) and continued 20° across the sky past Darlington, which lies in the opposite direction of Livingston. So, if the fragment that was found is genuine, then fragments must have broken away from the meteor prior to the explosion, and perhaps there is a long, wide path where fragments may have fallen, including the Darlington area.