Fiery Ball Possibly A Meteor Crashed Into River Trailing Orange And Red Flames

Judy Smiley said the ball of fire trailing orange and red flames was as big as her Chevy Cavalier. Then it splashed into the Columbia River.

Pasco police said Thursday that Smiley may have seen a meteor.

“We just took a little curiosity look at it to make sure it wasn’t a plane going down,” said Capt. Doug Chambers. “The airport didn’t report seeing anything on its radar, and no one else reported anything.”

Another police officer said he saw a meteor shower around 10 p.m. Wednesday, Chambers said. But that officer did not see anything fall to the ground, he said.

Smiley said she was driving east through Kennewick’s Columbia Park when she saw the object fall from the sky around 9:55 p.m. Wednesday.

“It was fast, real fast,” Smiley said. “It splashed the water up. … I’m going, ‘I can’t believe this.”’

A United Airlines pilot reported seeing two or three meteors in mid-Columbia skies Wednesday night, said Lee Fryer at the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle.

However, most meteors burn up by the time they hit the ground, Fryer said.

Smiley said she was headed home from a friend’s house when she saw the light in the sky to the east.

At first it looked like a bright airplane light, but it was headed toward the Tri-Cities too fast, she said.

“I slowed down and watched it,” Smiley said. “It started coming straight down. It was going right in front of me almost.”

After about a minute of watching, the light was coming in faster and she saw the flames.

“I slammed on my brakes,” she said, and the object then pounded into the river.