Optical meteor observations were carried out in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, in November 1997, in order to investigate the activity of Leonid shower under strong moon shine. We report a spectacular event of a meteor burst, with 100--150 meteors in only two seconds, observed at the time of descending node of the comet at 13:31 UT on November 17, 1997. From a preliminary analysis, the spread of the meteors in the orbit are estimated to be approximately 100 km along the trajectory and 50 km in the lateral direction. This observed meteor rate is comparable to the maximum hourly rate reported in 1966. The video camera observation shown here can be very useful for observations during the forthcoming strong Leonid meteor storm. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union