There's probably an easier (or perhaps more appropriate?) way to do this -- but -- I have never used discussion forums and it seems this may work to answer a burning question I have.

I live in Detroit, Michigan, USA. On September 22, 2002, in the east/northeast sky at 4:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings time, I saw -- not too high off the horizon -- an awesome [such an overused word but applicable in this case] shooting star (and I'm an amateur, just life's meanderings -- no telescopes, extended star-gazing, etc.)

Other shooting stars I've witnessed have been tiny streaks against the sky. The head of this star was as big as a pencil eraser (from my earth-bound perspective), with sparkler-like bursts off the head, and a tail which plumed into three sections. And it didn't flash across the sky -- it glided.

Keep in mind this is Detroit and the star was directly over Henry Ford's fume-belching factories. We're not talking clear sky here.

I've spent plenty of time above the 45th parallel and seen many shooting stars, but none like this.

I hope I'm not making an embarrassment of myself! Thanks!

• Fire Ball - bobsal - September 23, 2002 - 11:45 UTC
• Balistic Missile - starlite5 - September 25, 2002 - 05:46 UTC