I saw a bolide once out in south Louisiana.
Me and my dad were out star watching in a field north of our house, and it must have been during a small meteor shower... then suddenly the sky lit up BRIGHT AS DAY! (for like 3 seconds.) I could see the color of the tree lines and the field in front of us, and as quick as it flashed it was gone. Saw it streak on the north horizon heading straight down, exploding just above the tree line.
It’s something I’ll never forget.
Wasn’t that the Challenger?
We were reaching up toward Long Island from Cape Cod during the Perseids one year and I was trying to see the mainsail by starlight when suddenly it lit up or glowed.
I whipped around to see a large object breaking up in the sky. Biggest shooting star I ever saw — as I say, bright enough to light the sail with an orange glow for a millisecond.