Okay, I'm looking for confirmation that I'm not off my rocker here, so if anyone lives in the Lancaster, PA region, it'd really help me out. I don't know if this is the right forum for this, just seemed to be the best place for me to ask.

Anyway I saw a meteor (or something) tonight, November 8th, at about 10:15 pm. I saw it in the southeast sky and it was moving in a south-southeast direction. If i recalled correctly it moved through an angle about the width of my hand at arms length in 2-3 seconds, at which point I lost it behind a building.

I also know that it was rather close. While I could see it, it was easily the brightest thing in the sky, and the tail was about the width of three fingers at arm's length. I could actually see the end of the tail flickering, too.

Did anyone from the area see that?

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"The usefullness of a glass is in its emptiness."
- Bruce Lee

You may have seen something legitimate, but that doesn't confirm you are sane.

Close enough... Either this or Q&A

Sounds at first like an Iridium flare. Here's the previous sightings for Lancaster (I'm not sure if it disappears in 48 hrs though)
The problem is the times don't match, but these flares are very localized, so maybe you are on the fringe of a slightly different location or something.

The other issue is the "tail". Although, this may just be visual interpretation (perceived).

You may want to browse the above link to learn about viewing them, set your exact location, and do some viewing of predicted flares to see if it compares to what you saw.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

After reading up on Iridium Flares, I don't think that could have been it. As you noted, none of the times on the link you gave me matched up, And, in addition to that, with sunset at about 5:00pm I think it was probably too late to be able to see them.

Also, when I referenced a "tail" I meant it in the most literal sense, the thing had a clearly defined tail behind it, and the tip of it was wiggling around, kind of like the top of a flame.

I was actually sitting in my living room when I saw it, the only light in the room was from the TV (I was watching Mythbusters ) and I just happened to look out the window at the right time, and, like I said, with no moon out, it was, by far, the brightest thing in the sky.

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"The usefullness of a glass is in its emptiness."
- Bruce Lee

Hmm, strange.
I swore that I saw something white hurry past a window today as I entered a room, but it was just a reflection on my glasses.
Similarly, I'm sure you will find out what this thing was.

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Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song
'Evolution and science are one thing, but you don’t mess with Yoko Ono. Everybody knows that. ' - 386sx

Ok well, it sounds like you saw a meteorite

Did you go looking for debris?
Perhaps with goo oozing out of a broken rock (don't touch the goo...)

Except for the "tail" part, I'd also suggest an iridium flare. They can reach magnitudes of -9. There is nothing in the sky that bright except for the Moon, the Sun, and the occasional meteor. But according to your account it was moving way too slow for a meteor. So, either plane/helicopter or iridium flare.

Reading his posts, I couldn't get a good indication of velocity.

However, seeing a "shooting star" is a relatively common thing. I don't understand why the concensus is "Iridium flare" Which I have seen and I know the difference between the two, when seeing a chunk fall from the sky isn't unusual by any means

I disagree with the iridium flare theory- based on observational account not matching an Iridium Flare by any means.

OK. Meteor/space debris. Fine with me.

Heh...

It's just that everytime someone asks about what they saw in the sky, three or more people instantly jump up and say "Iridium Flare!"

It's like...
uhhh.. Ask some questions first!
The Iridium Flare is going the way of the Weather Balloon.

Sometimes it is an Iridium Flare, but I think judgement should be suspended until more information gets sifted out.
Otherwise, UFOlogists will get wary of (a very common mistake and common explanation that does hold true sometimes) Iridium Flares as disinformation spread by Evil Gubmit paid employees.

Ok.

Uh huh...

I didn't read your OP close enough. Sorry. Just ignore my posts.

My big question about this is still whether it was a meteorite or some kind of rogue firework. It wasn't really a quick glimpse of the thing that I caught, I was kinda staring out the window for a good 5 seconds before I saw it, and it took about 3 seconds until I lost it. Of course, my roommate thinks I'm crazy because I was kinda dumbfounded when I saw it and was unable to draw his attention to it until after it was gone.

My speed and tail length estimates may be off, those were my attempts to measure it from memory about ten minutes after I saw it, though it did seem to me that it was moving kind of slow. I also know that it wasn't a plane or a helicopter; I spent the first eighteen years of my life living under the landing path for Philadelphia International Airport, so I'm pretty familiar with what those look like.

I did toy with the idea of tracking the thing down, but it was 10:15 at night, I was kinda tired, had to be up early the next day, and had no idea how far I'd have to go to find it (though, now that I think about it, the thing did seem to move along PA-741 pretty well).

__________________
"The usefullness of a glass is in its emptiness."
- Bruce Lee

Well, you had your shot and you missed it.

By now the wreckage and bodies have been carted off to Area 51 and the Newspapers all say "Weather Balloon Came Down Undramatically near PA-741."

Even if that headline happened to be true sixty years ago?

__________________
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song
'Evolution and science are one thing, but you don’t mess with Yoko Ono. Everybody knows that. ' - 386sx

Don't ruin it for me.

10 degrees (hand width) over the course of a few seconds. Way too slow for a meteorite.
Well...
-The descriptions of strange lights usually do fit.
-Its a phenomenom that not many are familiar with.
-Its a good start because the information can researched.
Based on the discussion, I would agree with you up to the point of "by any means". The OP did sound very close.

My only concern is that it was viewed from inside. That opens up a lot more interpretation issues.

But; what about higher altitudes?
I wonder if maybe it was some strange effect of plane lights hitting a wisp of a cloud.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

A bolide can leave a dust trail that is visible for many seconds -- at first it glows and then later it can still be seen with binos. This can happen at high altitude, and nothing remains to reach the surface of the Earth.

Or, another way to get a glowing trail is to have a rocket of some type. I've seen some truly amazing pictures on APOD, like

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040722.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020926.html

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"I'm as accurate as any psychic. And I'm a cartoon!" -- Squidward

"Arrrgh, the laws of physics be a harsh mistress!" -- Bender

I saw it too!!

I was driving sounth on route 97 (just before Westminster, MD). It was falling just over the highway from west to east. It was huge. A thousand times bigger than any shooting star I've ever seen, and it was turquoise. It landed just east of the road (a few miles I'm sure, but relatively close considering). I'm not into astrology, but this thing was impressive which is why I'm here. I did a google search to see if anyone else had witnessed it. I nearly drove my car off the road...