very large meteor Berkeley, CA

Hello,
I was out at 12am in Berkeley, CA and with the bright lights of
downtown, I saw a large, "falling star". It was bright white and was
just above the horizon of the one story buildings and moved fast
enough that it appeared to "fall" at the end of one block. Nowhere
have I seen a meteor this close in to the Earth's atmosphere, nor this
large. And rarely in the city lights. I have to assume that it was
burning extermely hot and yet there must have been a rock sized object
still left that perhaps fell into the nearby ocean off the coast of
Marin County. I am a amatuer astronomist and am currently taking
"Descriptive Astronomy" so do have some idea of what I am talking
about here. Has anyone heard or seen this?? I am in awe of the size
and speed. Any information would be appreciated.
Lucinda

"Lucinda" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,
I was out at 12am in Berkeley, CA and with the bright lights of
downtown, I saw a large, "falling star". It was bright white and was
just above the horizon of the one story buildings and moved fast
enough that it appeared to "fall" at the end of one block. Nowhere
have I seen a meteor this close in to the Earth's atmosphere,

Bright fireball meteors create the OVERWHELMING optical illusion that
they're very close - people routinely report their impression that a meteor
that never got closer than 60 miles to the surface of the earth "must have
fallen behind a nearby hill."

It's impossible to accurately judge the distance of bright objects in the
sky at night.

"John Krempasky" wrote in message
. ..

"Lucinda" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,
I was out at 12am in Berkeley, CA and with the bright lights of
downtown, I saw a large, "falling star". It was bright white and was
just above the horizon of the one story buildings and moved fast
enough that it appeared to "fall" at the end of one block. Nowhere
have I seen a meteor this close in to the Earth's atmosphere,

Bright fireball meteors create the OVERWHELMING optical illusion that
they're very close - people routinely report their impression that a
meteor that never got closer than 60 miles to the surface of the earth
"must have fallen behind a nearby hill."

It's impossible to accurately judge the distance of bright objects in the
sky at night.

That's true, but it still must have been impressive. Any other reports?
Enough reports mean a triangulation becomes possible.

--
Mike Dworetsky

(Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)

An estimate of how long the meteor was visible would help
greatly in estimating the properties of the meteoroid. Most
meteors you see last about a quarter of a second to three
quarters of a second. You could look at a clock while you
imagine the meteor as you saw it, and time it after the fact.
Or use a stopwatch if you have one.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis