Fire in the SkyS


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Flashback Best of the Web: Meteor explodes above Cuba, shockwave shakes homes - 13 Feb 2013, same day as Chelyabinsk blast in Russia

february cuba meteor 2013
The plume left by an exploding meteor above Cuba, on the same day as another meteor exploded above Chelyabinsk, southern Russia
The celestial body that fell, and ended with a large explosion that shook houses in the central area of Cuba today, coincided with a rain of meteorite fragments that injured 1,000 people in the Urals region of Russia.

According to the morning news report on a Cuban TV channel from Rodas, Cienfuegos, a region in the center of the country, a very bright light about the size of a bus was seen in the sky and it then exploded. One of the eyewitnesses, a fisherman, told the news channel that "about 8pm local time on Wednesday, I saw a light that crossed the sky and then turned into a very large flame, bigger than the sun, and after about 3 or 4 minutes we heard an explosion".

"The evidence seems to suggest that it was a fireball or bolide, fragments of rock and metal that enter the atmosphere at high speed" said Marcos Rodriguez, a resident of the region who presented himself as an expert on the phenomenon. A woman also claimed that the explosion shook the roof of her house. According to the news report, specialists were looked for fragments that might have fallen to earth.

Today, about 1,000 people were injured when meteorite fragments fell on the Urals region of Russia. The majority of injuries were caused by glass being blow out of buildings by the shockwave, according to the Russian Ministry of the Interior.

Comment: Six years later in 2019, Cuba has been rattled by the detonation in the upper atmosphere of ANOTHER large bolide in February!

Meteor EXPLODES, shatters windows in Pinar del Río, Cuba - after streaking over Florida Keys


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Best of the Web: Meteor EXPLODES, shatters windows in Pinar del Río, Cuba - after streaking over Florida Keys

meteorite Cuba
© @rolandoteseSur/TwitterMeteor spotted over Florida and Cuba
Residents in western Cuba reported on Friday that a small meteorite struck the island, triggering the sounds of a large explosion. No injuries have been reported.

Cubans quickly took to social media, sharing photos and video footage of the aftermath. Some have likened the explosion to the sounds of a plane. Early social media reports also suggested that the sounds might have been caused by a satellite explosion.


Comment: Maybe there's something to this concept of 'February Fireballs'? Earth passes through no particularly significant meteor streams - known ones anyway - in February, and yet we keep getting smacked by big 'uns in this month. Not only that, but Cuba in particular was hit almost 6 years to the day!

Flashback: Meteor explodes above Cuba, shockwave shakes homes - 13 Feb 2013, same day as Chelyabinsk blast in Russia


Fireball

Bright meteor fireball seen over the province of Albacete, Spain

Fireball over province of Albacete, Spain
© YouTube/Meteors
A bright meteor fireball was filmed flying over the province of Albacete, Spain. Video footage was uploaded to YouTube by 'Meteors' on January 27:

The meteor on this video was recorded over Spain on 2019 January 27 at 0:22 local time (equivalent to 23:22 universal time on Jan. 26). It was generated by a rock from a comet that hit the atmosphere at about 80,000 km/h. It began over the province of Albacete at an altitude of about 97 km, and ended at a height of around 65 km.

Newspaper

Loud boom, rumble heard in Panama City Beach, Florida

Mystery boom stock
© strangesounds.org
A lot of folks contacted us today after hearing a loud boom and rumbling sound early this afternoon a little after 1pm. Many people thought it might have been an earthquake. A quick check of the USGS (United States Geological Survey) ruled that out.

While we do not have a definitive answer what caused the rumble can likely be narrowed down to a few possibilities...

1. A sonic boom from a military jet over the Gulf of Mexico. While no aircraft were flying out of Tyndall... planes could have been flying over the Gulf from either Eglin or MacDill.

2. An explosion from an ordinance over at Eglin on the test range

3. Maybe a sonic boom from a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Meteor

Mysterious boom rattles residents and homes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mystery boom in Philadelphia
© CBS
A mysterious boom has left residents in South Philadelphia rattled after many were awoken overnight by the loud sound. The boom was reportedly heard around 2 a.m. Tuesday. Those who heard it turned to social media to try to figure out what it may have been.

Many reported the boom was so loud it shook their windows and houses. Some even called police to report the mysterious explosion-like sound.

"I was asleep," said Kacie Campbell, a Pennsport Resident. "A pretty deep sleep. It was this loud noise that woke me up out of nowhere."


Question

Mysterious 'earth-shaking sound' rocks southeastern Kentucky

Mystery boom in KY
© WYKT
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is investigating after a loud boom was heard by several people Tuesday night.

Officials say the boom was heard in Madison County and Rockcastle County as well.

They say they don't know what the noise was and that trying to figure it out will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

In a Facebook post, Jackson County 911 said "No it's not a 'conspiracy' and no we are not hiding anything."


Comment: WKYT updated their report:
"Well at about 6:19 pm yesterday evening a couple of people called in and said they heard this loud boom in the county. We went to check on it in the area, and we never found anything," said Jackson County Sheriff Paul

It's the conversation of the county. Last night, Jackson County 911 dispatch received a handful of reports of an earth-shaking sound.

"Well at about 6:19 pm yesterday evening a couple of people called in and said they heard this loud boom in the county. We went to check on it in the area, and we never found anything," said Jackson County Sheriff Paul Hays.

Devonna Hisel lives in the northern part of the county, she says the mysterious boom shook the foundation of her house and scared a few of her neighbors. "We've had it shake the house before but not this much. We have a little dog that jumped and that never happened before," said Hisel.

From a transformer blowing to blasting at the rock quarry, a sonic boom, and even fracking, none of these are plausible and offer no possible insight as to why the boom happened. Many others reported the loud boom in parts of Madison, Estill, and Rockcastle counties as well. Forget the birdbox and the blindfold, grab the ear plugs next time your passing through Jackson County.




Fireball 2

Meteor fireball seen flying over eastern Texas

Fireball over W So Tx
© YouTube/AMS
The American Meteor Society posted a clip of a fireball seen over western Texas on January 19th:


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Best of the Web: Astronomical odds? Meteor strikes moon during 'Super Wolf Blood Moon' eclipse

Lunar Meteorite Impact
© Jose M. MadiedoThe meteorite impact caused a bright flash, indicated by the arrow.
Observers of yesterday's lunar eclipse were blessed with the first known sighting of a meteorite impact during such an event.

The so-called "super wolf blood moon" was eagerly watched by millions of people around the world, mostly via live streaming video. During the eclipse, some people noticed a tiny flash, a brief yellow-white speck, popping up on the lunar surface during the online broadcasts.

One Reddit user raised the possibility that this was a meteorite impact and others scoured eclipse footage for evidence of the event. A flash is visible in at least three different videos.

Jose Maria Madiedo at the University of Huelva in Spain has confirmed that the impact is genuine. For years, he and his colleagues have been hoping to observe a meteorite impact on the moon during a lunar eclipse, but the brightness of these events can make that very difficult - lunar meteorite impacts have been filmed before, but not during an eclipse.

Comment: Well we're "really really" glad that this chappy is "really really happy", but someone has to point out that this clearly points to the inner solar system these days having a LOT more debris in it than usual...


Meteor

'Rattled my whole trailer': Mysterious boom heard, felt in Delta, Colorado

Mystery boom in Delta, CO
© KJCT
There were nearly 300 comments on the Delta Facebook Message board from people who heard what they're describing as a "loud boom" on New Year's Eve.

It's easy to assume it was fireworks; after all, it was New Year's Eve.

People in Delta swear that it was not fireworks.

From things falling off of walls to people going outside to see what had happened, Delta locals are now wondering what it could have been.


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Bright meteor fireball blazes over Shetland, Scotland

Shetland meteor
© YouTube/Raccoon (screen capture)
LOCAL astronomers agree that a fireball seen over Sumburgh airport on Friday evening was a sporadic meteor.

The meteor was captured by one of the Sumburgh Head cliff cameras operated by Shetland Webcam and shared on You Tube.