Time: Approx: 6:00 p.m.
Dear Sir, I ran across your website while searching for others who might have sighted a really bright meteor/fireball over Comox at around 18:00 on 08 December. I think I might have seen the same object you did. I think it was a type of meteorite, what they call a fireball or bolide. I actually reported it to some kind of network, but have never heard back from them. Anyway, here's an excerpt of the report I sent in, see if it sounds like what you saw.
Best Regards.
Any reports of bright meteors or fireballs from Courtenay area around 17:30 - 18:00 on 08 December 2010? A colleague and I had an interesting sighting of what appeared to be a very bright meteor/fireball last night. We were returning to Comox on the Queen of Chilliwack, having caught the 16:45 sailing from Powell River. I don't know the exact time, but I estimate we were about 30 minutes or so out of Comox when the sighting occurred (we could see the lights of Comox ahead).
What we saw was a very bright bluish-white object which appeared to break apart into about 3-4 smaller pieces and left a long very bright trail. I believe it may have been visible for as long as 4-5 seconds. We were sitting on the port side of the vessel and so were more or less looking south when we saw it at. I estimate the object was moving toward the south/southwest.
I cannot say whether there was any associated sound because were were inside during the sighting and viewed it through the window. I am no astronomer, but I have seen a lot of meteors over the years. I usually make a point of sitting out for the Perseids, for example. This was by far the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. My colleague saw it also. Did anyone else report seeing something like this around the same time/place?
Date: 08/12/2010
Time: 17:30 - 18:00 PST
Cloud: Not sure - there was some, but it didn't interfere with our sighting.
Location: Sorry, I can't provide coordinates from a topographic map. We were sailing from Powell River to Comox on the Queen of Chilliwack. Sighting occurred when we were approximately 30 minutes out (i.e., offshore) of the ferry terminal at Comox.
If the vessel's bow is taken to be the end of the vessel that is pointing at Vancouver Island, then we were sitting on the left side of the vessel, looking roughly south when the sighting occurred. From this perspective the object first appeared in the upper left hand corner of the window frame, got brighter and began leaving trail that persisted for a few seconds; pieces broke off and then the whole thing gradually faded.
Beginning_azimuth: ~ NE.
Ending_azimuth: ~ SW.
Magnitude: Not sure - is there a visual chart one can use for comparison?
Moon: Much brighter - similar to how an arc welder would look about 10 m away.
Duration: ~ 4-5
Speed: medium-slow.
Flares: About 3-4 fragments broke off it as we watched, traveling at about the same speed and trajectory.
Colour: Bluish-white; (perhaps a bit of orange).
Train: Yes - it persisted for perhaps 3-4 seconds (an estimate).
If you have seen anything like this in the same area please be kind enough to contact Brian Vike at: sighting@telus.net with the details of your sighting. All personal information is kept confidential.
Sightings.com website: http://www.sightings.com/
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