Initial Sighting Reports

27 February 2013 - D. Beebe, Gulf of Mexico, off Louisiana 03:05 CST
1 minute plus duration. South to Northwest, I was facing South. It was orange color and about Venus brightness. It fragmented into ~15 pieces and glowed orange/white leaving a very long tail of sparks directly behind it, then slowly faded away.
27 February 2013 - Bart. @ 27 03'0N; 092 03'2W - 03:30 Central USA
30 seconds duration. It was yellow to amber color and fragmented.
27 February 2013 - Seadog71, Gulf of Mexico 3:30am
20 seconds duration. Travelling south to north. White and orange color and as bright as Venus. It was quite large and broke apart into a few bigger and many small fragments. It was heading towards the Louisiana coast. I took video, but it's a bit grainy at night.
27 February 2013 - Dan Richard Lafayette, Louisiana USA 03:10 CST
Event lasted over 20 seconds, then it disappeared behind clouds as it broke up. It was moving in a southeast/northwest direction. It was white with a tinge of red and blue as it broke up. As bright as the moon. It looked similar to Shuttle Columbia breaking apart, but not as bright.
27 February 2013 - Byron Byrd, North Central Gulf of Mexico 03:30 CST
Over 30 seconds duration. Seen it travel across 3/4 of the visible horizon, from south to north. It was bright white with orange sparks, like a bright star with trails. 6 - 8 smaller fragments broke off and followed one larger piece. They were very bright and seemed slow-moving.
27 February 2013 - Joel Ciochetto, Galveston, Texas 03:07 CST
30 seconds duration, travelling from south to north. It was a large fireball with a long white tail. It looked like sparks were coming off it. I'd say it was as bright as the sun.
27 February 2013 - Anthony Smith, Houston, Texas 03:15 CDT
I estimate it was visible for 15 seconds. I was going south, the lights in the sky going appeared to be going from west to east, before vanishing behind clouds. There were about 6-8 bright lights with tails. As bright as Venus.
27 February 2013 - Max Watts, Dickinson 03:25 CST
I'd say it lasted for about 1 minute and 30 seconds from the time I first noticed it. It was real bright with red tails. I thought it was a comet at first glance. Brighter than the full moon, this thing was very large. In fact, it was one large piece with a number of fragments behind it. It seemed to be heading Northeast. I fully expected to hear several impacts but heard none. My first thought was 'Russia!' and that now it's happening here!