In the quiet dawn of April 16, 2019, the skies above New Prague, Minnesota, unveiled an extraordinary spectacle that lingered for a haunting three minutes. I witnessed a red fireball — a glowing orb surrounded by a hazy aura — moving slowly and silently across the heavens. Unlike the fleeting blaze of a meteor, this was deliberate, steady, and strikingly anomalous.
This fireball, radiant in its reddish-orange glow, moved at a pace far too slow to be a meteor, maintaining an altitude akin to that of a commercial airplane—about 27,000 feet or a touch higher. It emitted no sound, no blinking lights, and lacked any discernible exhaust trail, yet it left two large chem-trail like streaks where it had passed, framed against the emerging daylight.
The ethereal glow brought to mind the exhaust of a rocket, but with no visible source leading the way. It was as if the sky itself was breathing out a slow, fiery breath, enigmatic and compelling. The haunting beauty of this slow-traveling fireball, hanging silently in the morning light, left a lasting impression—a mystery that defies easy explanation and beckons those intrigued by the unknown.
This silent celestial visitor with its fiery radiance over New Prague is a reminder of how the skies can still hold secrets, stirring the imagination and calling for deeper exploration into the mysteries that sweep above us.