This Orb Tail Says "I Defy the Strong Wind"

Photo date: September 30, 2015. Photographer: Mark Mahin.

The photo below was taken on a dry night in which the air was extremely clean in New York City.  There was a brisk wind, and the local air quality was listed on airnow,gov with a level of only 2, which means air about as clean as it ever gets (any level below 50 is considered good quality air).  We see at the top of the photo what looks like an orb that is speeding to the left of the photo, in a direction that was north.  But the flag shows the wind was blowing strongly in the opposite direction, towards the right of the photo, towards the south.

Below is a closeup of the orb (I used the IrfanView "Auto-adjust colors" menu option on the closeup).  We see very clearly the trailing tail indicating which direction the orb was speeding in.

 The combination of the extremely clean air and the direction against the wind combine to rule out any dust explanation here.

There was no fog, mist, rain, or precipitation on this night.