This stunning bolide was spotted over Spain on August 17, at 23:18 local time (equivalent to 21:18 universal time). It was almost as bright as the full Moon and was seen by a wide number of eyewitnesses that reported the event on social networks. The bolide was generated by a rock (a meteoroid) from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 55,000 km/h. The fireball overflew the Mediterranean Sea. It began at an altitude of about 83 km over the Mediterranean between the coasts of Spain and Morocco, moved northeast, and ended at a height of around 23 km over the sea.
The preliminary analysis of this event shows that the rock was not fully destroyed: a part of the meteoroid survived and fell into the sea as a meteorite. So, the meteorite cannot be recovered.
This bright meteor was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, operated by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN) from the meteor-observing stations located at Huelva, La Hita, CAHA, OSN, La Sagra, Sevilla, and El Aljarafe. The event has been analyzed by the principal investigator of the SMART project: Dr. Jose M. Madiedo, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC).
