Fire in the Sky

Residents in New Zealand report mystery fireball 'crashing' into river

Jim Birchall
Times Online
Tue, 26 May 2020 22:52 UTC

Several Pakuranga residents reported seeing a bright flash of light or a "fireball" above the Tamaki River in the vicinity of Waipuna Bridge at around 6:47 pm on Monday 25 May. According to some eyewitnesses, the object was alleged to have then crashed into the water.

Reports of a "bright light" and "an explosion" flooded the east Auckland grapevine page as local people recounted what they had seen. Many speculated a meteor, a rocket from nearby Rocket Lab, or even a flare was responsible.

Corinne Hill, whose property on Pakuranga Rd backs on to the river saw "A Bright orange-red (object) about the size of 3 full moons joined together. It (sic) was travelling at speed over the water till it appeared to hit the water and disappeared."

According to Hill, the object made no sound, and by the time she "went to get binoculars out" it had gone.

Ms Hill also stated the object "It appeared to grow in size as it travelled, so my initial thought was it looked like a ball of fire but then I got wondering what it was. There were cars on the bridge at the time commuting, so I was thinking one of them may have also seen it."

Police, The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and Stardome observatory were approached for comment.

Was the mystery 'flaming' object spotted hurtling over Midlothian, UK a fireball?

Claire Galloway
Edinburgh Live
Mon, 25 May 2020 18:55 UTC

Locals in Midlothian were left puzzled after spotting a mystery object hurtling through the sky and trailing smoke in its wake - so, we asked the experts what it was.

Videos and pictures emerged showing what witnesses described as a "flaming" object falling from the skies over Midlothian last week, on Thursday night.

Gorebridge resident, Briege Reynolds, initially thought it was a crashing helicopter but believes it wasn't an aircraft at all.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live previously, she said: "I was actually feeding my dogs in the kitchen and the back door was open when I saw it, so I just pulled out my phone to video it.

"I thought it was something crashing, like a helicopter, but it didn't look like a helicopter. It looked like a half-circle, kind of like a capsule. There was a trail of orange smoke, and then there was no smoke, and it seemed to be spiralling down."

Mystery over loud boom heard along East Kent, UK coast

Beth Robson
Kent Online
Thu, 21 May 2020 17:43 UTC

The cause of a loud and mysterious bang heard along the East Kent coast last night still has not been confirmed.

Reports on Facebook site Deal Watch claim the explosion-type sound was heard across parts of Walmer, Deal, Sholden and Sandwich at about 9pm.

Some said it was like a ship's distress flare while others describe it as like thunder, a firework, a car tyre bursting or a sonic boom.

Walmer resident Rachel Jones said: "I heard several different theories - a tyre blown on Dover Road, fireworks, gas bottle explosion, Defence testing... no one seems to know for definite though, but someone confirmed it wasn't the lifeboat.

Bright meteor fireball illuminates night sky over Spokane, Washington state

Rebecca White
The Spokesman-Review
Sat, 23 May 2020 02:16 UTC

© Courtesy
Stills show a flash of light believed to be a meteor or space debris passing over the sky in Spokane Thursday night.

A bright flash of light caught on many Spokane security cameras Thursday night was likely a small meteor or fireball, area astronomers say.

The flashes of light, seen by many locals and captured on many dash and front-door cameras, occurred just before midnight Thursday. Videos posted on the American Meteor Society's website show it disappearing after a few seconds.

David Syphers, an astronomy professor at Eastern Washington University, said Thursday night's meteor was not something area astronomers could predict because it was likely never a part of a comet.

Meteor showers are created when Earth passes through the path of a comet and debris is caught in the earth's gravity field and enters the atmosphere. The next meteor shower, called the Perseids, will occur from mid July to late August, according to NASA's website. It occurs when the Earth passes through leftover particles from the Swift-Tuttle comet.

When a single meteor falls, it is usually either man-made debris from space, such as a satellite, or rock and ice from an asteroid.

Comment: Earlier this month another meteor fireball was filmed over Washington state. It produced a "huge boom that shook the house," according to one witness.

Asteroid NY65 - Another close call to occur in June

Sputnik News
Wed, 20 May 2020 18:54 UTC

NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOs) is closely observing all asteroids approaching our planet within a distance of 0.05 astronomical units. In human terms, it may seem like nothing, but large space rocks can have a significant impact on Earth - even from a million-kilometres away.

The Apollo-class asteroid 441987, also dubbed 2010 NY65, will closely approach Earth on 24 June, according to NASA's tracking table.

The space rock is measured at between 140 and 310 metres, based on the way it reflects lights, and is estimated to be a small object in NASA's terms. However, it will approach our planet at a speed of 12.98 kilometre per second, coming as close as 0.02512 astronomical units to Earth.

Spectacular green fireball blazes over western Siberia

RT
Tue, 19 May 2020 15:56 UTC

Bewildered residents in Russia have witnessed a spectacular glowing meteor shooting across the night sky. The incident was caught on CCTV cameras and was seen from several locations.

The dazzling object was seen travelling over the city of Kansk in western Siberia and several other areas of the Krasnoyarsk Region at around 22:40 local time.

Some local media reported that witnesses also heard a "loud bang." However, top local emergency official Eduard Bille told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that everything was quiet.

It literally lasted several seconds; a bright ball crossed the sky and disappeared somewhere near the ground. It was all quiet: no bangs, no blasts, nothing.

'Like a bomb!' Loud boom causes homes to shake in East Yorkshire, England

Sophie Corcoran
Hull Live
Fri, 15 May 2020 20:07 UTC

People reported feeling their houses shake and a loud noise over East Yorkshire on Thursday in what was thought to be a sonic boom.

Many living in the region took to social media to ask others if they had felt the earth moving and heard the sound that "reverberated" at around lunchtime on Thursday, May 14.

One man said: "Everything shook! Like a bomb!"

Another social media user said: "It felt like something had hit the house."

The strange activity was soon explained as a sonic boom - a very loud sound caused by shock waves created by any object that travels through the air faster than the speed of sound.

Meteor fireball lights up sky over parts of southeast US

Cutter Martin
WRDW-TV
Thu, 14 May 2020 17:27 UTC

The May 14, 2020, light in the sky can be seen in the upper left corner of this photo.

A fireball and bright flash were reported across portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas early Thursday morning.

A bright flash was seen by some in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry around 12:45 a.m. The sight was even captured by some home security cameras.

Several reports were logged by the American Meteor Society. Fireballs, shootings stars, etc. are fairly common sights across the world. But, of course, it has to be pretty dark (and clear) to truly notice them.

Meteor fireball seen streaking across the sky in Natchez, Mississippi

Ben Hillyer
The Natchez Democrat
Tue, 12 May 2020 11:33 UTC

For one Natchez resident, a late-night trip out of his house turned into an otherworldly experience when he spotted a bright orange fireball streak across the sky.

"It scared the heck out of me," Alex Sandel said Monday morning. "It was bright orange, red and spinning."

Living near Merit Health Natchez, Sandel said he has stepped outside to watch a helicopter take off from the hospital's helipad Sunday evening at approximately 10:15 when he was startled by the fireball streaking across the sky.

Stargazer captures intriguing meteor fireball explosion over Oregon

Carrie J.. Bronstein
WebbyFeed
Fri, 08 May 2020 14:29 UTC

An amateur stargazer was lucky enough to spot the exact moment a fireball hit the sky, discharging a fantastic bright aura. Wade Earl from Oregon captured a meteorite explosion during the Lyrid meteor shower.

The image, taken on April 21, 2020, was sent to the IMO (the International Meteor Organization) and AMS (the American Meteor Society) displays the meteor seemingly shattering twice as it reaches the atmosphere, meaning that Earl captured a double bursting fireball. In the image, we can spot the "W" of Cassiopeia lying to the lower right of the fireball.

Various space objects, such as comets or asteroids, produce a bright explosion of fore when they reach the sky. Air flows into cracks and pores of the rock, dragging apart and causing it to burst. Fireballs, on the other hand, are meteors that might be brighter than anything else ever seen.

Meteorite Explosion Lit Up the Sky over Oregon

Due to their speed at which they touch the Earth's atmosphere, fragments bigger than one millimeter can produce a bright light as they streak through the sky. These bright meteors are also dubbed fireballs, and they sometimes strike awe or fear for those who spot them.