From: Jerry Sullivan, Denver, Colorado
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 16:45:49 EST

Hi, | after spending all day on Nov. 18th studying weather images and forecasts online,
my wife and I decided to drive to Punkin Center, Colorado, out on the high plains about
120 miles southeast Denver, hoping to catch the sliver-like window between the atmospheric
moisture pushed by two storms converging on Colorado. We found it. We put the tailgate
down on the old Wagoneer and got into our sleeping bags with our heads facing up and tilted
a little back towards Leo. We watched the storm from 2:50 to sunrise. We don't have a scientific
count for you because there were just two of us, and no other meteor watchers to be found
anywhere, but no second went by without a meteor streaking through the sky, and often there
were 5-10 simultaneously. I really think that we witnessed a storm well in excess of 4,000 per
hour. We saw about 50 massive fireballs, and about half of them ended in gigantic explosions,
! illuminating the entire landscape. There were brilliant blue, green, orange fireballs and flashes, 
and some debris tails lasted 15-30 minutes. Sometimes there were 2 or more fireballs in
different parts of the sky at once, my wife would watch one and I would watch the other. | 
This continued through dawn with fireballs still visible as Venus flashed on the eastern horizon
and only the nav stars remained visible, and even until the sun was visible on the horizon. We
could barely keep track of the fireballs, tracking all the meteors was unthinkable. My friend who
I almost joined on Hoosier pass at 11,500 feet did not have as good an experience even though
the skies were clear there; why do you think this happened?