i witnessed a comet like something about 2 hours ago in rocky point NC?

Question

it was not a flare or meteor . it had a distinctive tailas other comets i have witnessed before . but this one only lasted about 30 min. it was straight overhead and the tail shifted from west to north then faded slowly away dont know what else it could be but deffinatly not meteot or flair

Answer 1

here are the stats I found on wiki about the recent launch


2007-12-10

serial-no AV-015
luanch site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station_Launch_Complex_41
payload- NRO L-24 Reconnaissance satellite
orbit -Success

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=11016&mid=221256

www.ulalaunch.com
1-877-ULA-4321

Answer 2

These are parts of e-mails that some friends of mine sent in a group forum:
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At first I thought it was an existing satellite that had come to grief, but in fact it's been tentatively identified as the spent upper stage of an Atlas-Centaur rocket that was making quite a show, jettisoning propellant, above Florida
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A launch of an Atlas Centaur 5 rocket was followed by a huge fuel dump.

The results were spectacular - a hazy blob twice the size of Comet Holmes
and about magnitude -1 (!). Through binoculars, it looked a lot like a comet
with a tight nucleus (actually the rocket) and a huge, fan-tailed coma (the
dispersing rocket fuel). It was moving rapidly from Cygus into Cassiopeia
and by 7:45pm or so had just about faded away. But just a little after 7pm
EST this evening, it really produced one of the most amazing spectacles!!!

I knew that no comet was in that area so it couldn't have been an unexpected outburst, and after a few minutes, its apparent motion across the sky became obvious so it was obviously in Earth vicinity.
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Answer 3

I saw it here in Louisiana it was about 5:50 pm 12/10/07
Could only see it for about 20 min. It was not Comet Holmes from SPACEWEATHER.COM
"Two objects streaking through the cloud suggested the possibility of a rocket burn or fuel dump"--and that is the correct explanation. This cloud mimicking Comet 17P/Holmes is fuel dumped from the upper stage of an Atlas rocket that launched a classified satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office earlier this evening. It was a splendid display, now faded away.

Answer 4

A comet would last all night with no change big enough to notice. It could have been a rocket. Sometimes spent rocket stages in space will vent unused propellant and look like that.

Answer 5

It was a fuel dump by an Atlas Centaur rocket, which was launched from the Cape at around 5 pm, carrying a spy satellite.

Answer 6

I know we're supposed to be getting a great meteor shower soon, but those go quickly across the sky. I recall seeing sputnik go across the sky, and it took about 30 minutes, so maybe you were seeing some space junk quite high.

Answer 7

It was a rocket separation. Someone answered this earlier - look down the page a bit.

Answer 8

dude, the only way you could see a comet move that quickly is if the earth was right next to it...which would be bad for all of us.

Answer 9

I would bet it was a booster or satellite re-entering the atmosphere.

Answer 10

could be space debris burning up on entering the earths atmoshphere