© Panorama Poznan Online/MSN
Video source: Panorama Poznan Online
Fire in the Sky
Video source: Panorama Poznan Online
© Fort Collins Coloradoan (file photo)
No, I'm not talking about a drone. At least, I don't think I am.
Regardless, there's no need to have a "let's storm Area 51" moment just yet. Any unusual sightings were likely activity from a Quadrantid meteor shower that peaked late Friday night over Northern Colorado.
Coloradoan reader Krista Vance tipped us off to a bright green ball of light she said she and her 15-year-old daughter Olivia saw streak across the sky while driving north on Taft Hill Road near the Cathy Fromme Prairie area around 9 p.m. Friday.
"It was only visible for two snaps of your fingers, then ... poof ... gone," Vance told the Coloradoan, adding that the sight of the quick green flash gave her goosebumps.
© Sandy MacPherson
Jason Jones and his wife were driving alongside the Gatineau River near Cantley, Que., just north of Gatineau, when they spotted the object.
"The two big things were the diameter and the brightness," Jones said Monday morning. "It was clearly as bright as Venus or the moon ... and instead of a pinpoint of light with a tail, it was a sphere with a tail."
Christopher Cordick was driving northbound along Eagleson Road in Ottawa's west end when he saw what he described as a "very vibrant light in the sky descending rapidly." Cordick said the time was around 10:10 p.m.
© Anchorage Police Dept.
Anchorage police posted the video below of a meteor lighting up the night sky in Anchorage on Dec. 21.
© George Varros and Dr. Peter Jenniskens/NASA/Getty Images
"It sounds exactly like a fireball report. They can surprise people. We can't always predict them," said Dr. Valerie Rapson, director of the Dudley Observatory at Siena College and has her PhD in Astrophysics.
She said as soon as she heard the reports meteor came to mind. She said specifically, a "bolide."
"When these rocks come in, they're fairly small, but they're coming in at very high speeds so they can potentially break the sound barrier and actually create this ripple effect that will shake homes or cause explosions," said Dr. Rapson.
© YouTube/Saskatoon StarPhoenix (screen capture)
Adam Frank spotted a meteor blazing across the night sky late Saturday night.
His doorbell camera also caught the spectacle from the front of his Hampton Village home.
Sky-watchers will want to keep their eyes peeled for the next few nights, as we are in the midst of the Quadrantids meteor shower, which typically runs from the end of December to about mid-January.
Hundreds of people witnessed the mysterious ball which was seen darting across the sky in the US territory, Guam in the western Pacific on Friday night, some capturing spectacular pictures and videos of the spectacle.
The unusual event triggered heated debates over the origins of the bright object that apparently fell apart and burned up in the atmosphere.
A possible meteor streaking across the sky was caught on a doorbell camera in Hamden.
Annette says her Ring doorbell camera caught a video around 5:30 a.m. Sunday of a meteor.
NASA posted about the Geminid meteor shower Saturday night, encouraging everyone to look up at "a bright & brilliant cosmic show...now playing in a sky near you!"
Annette says her Ring doorbell camera caught a video around 5:30 a.m. Sunday of a meteor.
© WTNH
© WYFF
It's even more rare to capture the event on video.
A WYFF News 4 viewer likely did just that recently. uLocal Carolinas member Jeff Bott captured his video Thursday morning.
uLocal Carolinas is WYFF News 4's Facebook group where members post pictures and videos of cool and beautiful images.
Bott said he was driving on Emily Lane, south of the Southern Connector (County Rd. 316,) in Greenville County at 4:40 a.m. when his dashcam captured a light streaking through the dark sky. Footage of the meteor can be seen here.
Comment: Read SOTT.net's Comets and Catastrophes Series by Laura Knight-Jadczyk for more on the hazards to humanity from meteors and asteroids. Bombardments from space rocks are cyclic in nature and have occurred repeatedly throughout history.