I've only seen one “falling star” so I have nothing to compare it to. But I thought it was a beautiful thing!
When I was in college I experienced something I've never been able to fully explain. I was driving home from work in a rough thunder storm. It was a country road with no street lights and there was an open field on one side, occasional houses on the other.
I had slowed to a crawl because I could not see 100 feet in front of the car. With no warning all the hair on my arms stood up and the field and even the car was lit with a neon blue flicker. My passenger, a girl I worked with named Connie had her shoulder length brown hair all statically-charge-stuck to the roof of my car! There was a very soft buzz sound that I could feel in the new filling in my tooth, but no thunder clap. It lasted 4-6 seconds, starting dim and increasing in intensity and then faded again.
It was SO cool.
My dad said it was probably ball lightening. I don't know! But Connie and I made a joke that if one of us developed ESP or grew antennae we would be sure and let the other know!
I had a similar experience while sailing through a severe thunderstorm. It was daylight, so there was no visible light, but the rigging on my boat buzzed loudly. The rain from the storm missed us, but it was very windy though. My companion touched the main shroud and a spark 4” long zappped him.
He had a red whelt in his palm for days. Really spookie sail.
That's what I was thinking. But did you see a glowing ball?