A nice fireball seems to come along fairly frequently somewhere in the world. I've only seen one that I recall. I doubt that you would be seeing the actual meteor - but the glow of gas around a bigger piece of rock would have a lot of shape and texture to it. Check on Youtube for fireball videos - they are not just a fine line of light. Eg:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3WfNDD59Y