When watching shooting stars, try to characterise the trails. Since its so fast, you need to train your eye a bit.<p>I had an astonishing display in early July in Aragon. I must have seen several hundred in a week. Most had no trails that I could see, of course, but some had trails that were detached from the body, and some of those trails were feathered. Of the feathered ones, some were nebulous but others had distinct points drifting out of them. (In a split-second, of course.)