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© Meteoroid Environments Office, EV44, Marshall Space Flight CenterVery bright event at 05:24:38 UTC on October 26 (1:24:38 AM EDT), rivalling Moon. The fireball's final flare was so bright that NASA's al-sky camera lit up like daytime.
NASA Report by Dr. Bill Cooke:
Very bright event at 05:24:38 UTC on October 26 (1:24:38 AM EDT), rivalling Moon. Flash seen by our cameras even through dense clouds

Trajectory analysis indicates this could be a South Taurid (a bit on the fast side). Details are:

Speed: 36.0 +/- 2 km/s
Radiant coordinates: 44.0 +/- 2 deg RA, 17.0 +/- 0.5 deg Dec
Start location: 83.872 W, +34.517 at an altitude of 102.9 km
*End location: 83.940 W, +34.599 at an altitude of 72.9 km

End location is the last point we could determine before the flare got so huge it was impossible to determine the center of light. The meteor lasted several frames beyond this.

Probably too fast and too high to produce meteorites, but I will wait to see if there is a doppler signature.

Regards,

Bill Cooke
Meteoroid Environments Office
EV44, Marshall Space Flight Center
Initial Meteor Sighting Reports:

26 OCT 2012 Justin Troester - Charlotte, NC 1.20 am
Duration: 12 seconds. Southeast trajectory. Orange fire-red colour. The tail was huge, the moon looked like a dime compared to it. Little less bright than the sun. No falling pieces that I saw. Biggest fireball I have ever seen.
26 OCT 2012 ReneeC - Alcoa, TN, USA 0128 EST
Duration: 5-10 sec. White at first, then a multicolor burst. As bright as the moon. Didn't see any falling parts.
26 OCT 2012 Colt Tallant - Cuming, Georgia, United States 1:29am EST
Duration: less than five seconds. Appeared at approximately magnetic north, traveled North by Northwest. Bright white, like a magnesium flame. Brighter than the moon, which is very bright and out tonight. No parts falling off. It was so bright when it first appeared, I thought my back yard was about to be struck by lightning. After it passed, there was a vapor trail visible in the sky.
26 OCT 2012 Brad S Newnan, GA Approximately 5:30 GMT (1:30 Eastern)
Duration: few seconds from flash to trail disappearing. I was on a motorcycle facing East. Bright flash and trail was to North with trail going northwest. Short white trail disappeared after a few seconds. Did not see meteor itself. Saw very bright flash that illuminated entire sky like a large flash of lightning. Looked up to see disappearing white trail to the north. Saw no falling parts, but then I didn't see the meteor directly. Very bright flash. Have never seen one that bright before.
26 OCT 2012 Robert MacKenzie Pinehurst, NC USA 0100 hrs.
Duration: 6 sec. NW-E trajectory. Very bright with flames and smoke trail. Venus bright. Object did not appear to originate from the area of Orion.