Most of us are not observant concerning the sky. We hardly look up anymore. Most of our attention is looking down, whether at our cellphones, a book, documents or our smart watches. If we do look up, it's more level like when we are driving, riding our bicycles or walking. Looking up has no longer been an interest of ours unless a sound catches our attention. Planes and helicopters no longer catch our attention.
I made that same mistake myself. I was live-streaming a thunderstorm. I thought everything was over. I use OBS stream. I stopped the livestream but still had the screen up. I heard what sounded like a loud boom. I casually glanced and watched a fireball light up the sky. In my delayed response, I failed to capture the fireball in time. I actually assumed it to be a plane or fireworks (this occurred in July and fireworks were constantly going off where I was). I will never forget how in my assumption, I missed a one in a lifetime event. I vowed to stay more active in my pursuit of sky activity.
For now on, when I hear thunder and see lightening, I immediately setup my camera to capture what I hope to see, a flashing display then a fireball. At night, even if there are light clouds, I will setup my camera. I have successfully caught meteors, falling stars, even a UFO of some sort.
Sometimes I have been ill-prepared at capturing anomalies in the sky. There seems to be a flight path close to my home, where white orbs of light fly. I usually have my DSLR or iPhone on me. My DSLR I left at home because I forgot to charge it. My iPhone had a broken screen which was sitting at a repair shop. I had my GoPro and Android phone on me. I have memory problems on my Android so I chose my GoPro to try the capture these orbs. Unfortunately it did not, though it did capture the crepuscular rays perfectly.
I will continue to search the skies for anything out of the ordinary. I will post my findings publicly to share with others who have witnessed anything unusual. My goal is to seek out distant realms. And the sky is the Earth's doorway to these other worlds.