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Re: (meteorobs) WESTERN OKLAHOMA PHENOM

We travelled 350 miles one way from Tulsa, Ok. to
Guymon, Ok. in western Oklahoma in order to find clear
skies. We left while the Oklahoma football game was
still showing on television, although we were able to
listen to the radio audio. I began to worry as it
approached midnight and heavy, low clouds still
obscured the sky. We found one patch of clear skies
just east of Guymon, where the sky was as black as I
have ever seen it, which prompted us to drive past
Guymon in search of a place to pull off the road. At
12:08 a.m., my wife began yelling, "Oh, my God, oh, my
God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God,
oh, my God!" I leaned forward which gave me enough
view of the sky to see out her window. A large ball of
light had come from behind our car, caught up with us,
and passed us as if we were sitting still. It appeared
to be no more than 10-15 degrees above the horizon of
the earth. Once past the car by about 40 degrees, it
seemed to explode or flash into a larger ball of
brilliant flame. I thought I heard a sort of sizzle in
the air as it went past, like hot grease in a pan in
which a drop of water has been placed there. That, I
guess, was just a fantasy based on what I was seeing
as the car windows were up. The amazing the things was
how long my wife observed it before we saw it as well:
it took her about 7 seconds to say that phrase seven
times, then I saw it for another 3-4 seconds as it
flashed past and flamed out. plus, it looked like it
was less than 500 feet above the ground and only 500
feet away from us. It made us stop immediately to see
if any more were following. After a few minutes we
drove on because it was still early for the peak.

From one-thirty to four-thirty we had clear skies. We
saw about one hundred-159 in the first hour, two to
three hundred in the next hour, and over 800 from then
until we were fogged in by 4:45. It clouded as well,
but we continued to see the long trails and brilliant
fire of fallins stars as we loaded our van. Driving
east into the sunrise, I contined to see five or six
flaming visions as they fell toward the horizon. I
continued to see them until a few minutes after the
edge of the sun appeared over the eastern horizon.
Most of the 1,200 or more that we saw had long trails,
were brightly colored, and even made shadows as they
flared by. One left a contrail I could see for four
minutes through my binocs. We were tired from being up
all night, driving 700 miles, laying on the hard
ground in a harvested wheat field, and being cold, but
it was maybe a once in a lifetime experience, although
I certainly hope that is not true. 

Does any one have any ideas about the first one we saw
just after midnight? Would like to know your informed
opinions. Thanks.


Johnie in Tulsa


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