Astronomers say bright lights in the sky and noises like thunder observed over much of Kentucky were meteors.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that after the reports came in from people in Kentucky and Texas late Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration cautioned pilots to beware of satellite debris, but the advisory was quickly withdrawn.
Fire in the Sky
Witness statement - MUFON report: I was travelling down the Birfield Road, Soutcote in Reading on 15th February 2009 at exactly 7pm. When me and my mother saw a strange object in the sky. It was moving in very fast circular movements and hovered up and down whilst moving straight across the sky.
© Afton Dewland
There were original reports that debris from the collision of U.S. and Russian satellites were the culprit...but those reports have since been refuted.
Afton Dewland sent this email along with the picture:
Just as television viewers everywhere marvel about the daylight meteor/fireball/unknown object videotaped over Texas, Inexplicata has received an e-mail posting from Jorge Luis Figueras, photographic analyst with the Fundacion Argentina de Ovnilogia (FAO):
"[The incidents] occurred on Saturday, and regional members of the FAO are involved in researching it. At this time, eyewitness accounts span locations as distant as Casa de Piedra in the south of La Pampa, Viedma in eastern Rio Negro, Sierra Grande and Ramos Mexia, Cutral Co, Bariloche on the western end of the province, Neuquén proper, Zapala, Las Lajas and Chos Malal -- that is to say, two entire provinces 600 kilometers from north to south and some 500 from east to west. There is a strong likelihood that it was also seen in Chile.
"[The incidents] occurred on Saturday, and regional members of the FAO are involved in researching it. At this time, eyewitness accounts span locations as distant as Casa de Piedra in the south of La Pampa, Viedma in eastern Rio Negro, Sierra Grande and Ramos Mexia, Cutral Co, Bariloche on the western end of the province, Neuquén proper, Zapala, Las Lajas and Chos Malal -- that is to say, two entire provinces 600 kilometers from north to south and some 500 from east to west. There is a strong likelihood that it was also seen in Chile.
The U.S. Strategic Command said there was no connection to reports of a "fireball" in the sky over Texas on Sunday and Tuesday's collision of satellites from the U.S. and Russia.
"There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry," said Maj. Regina Winchester, of STRATCOM.
"There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry," said Maj. Regina Winchester, of STRATCOM.
Authorities in Texas are baffled after being flooded with reports of burning debris falling from the sky.
It streaked across the Central Texas sky Sunday morning in a bright yellow flash with a boom, leaving a trail of smoke. The FAA thought it might be from Russia.
The media, bloggers and the Twitterverse followed the feds' lead.
But they were all wrong.
It turned out it wasn't debris from Tuesday's collision of two satellites over Russia after all, according to the Domestic Events Network of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Federal authorities now believe the source was not manmade.
The media, bloggers and the Twitterverse followed the feds' lead.
But they were all wrong.
It turned out it wasn't debris from Tuesday's collision of two satellites over Russia after all, according to the Domestic Events Network of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Federal authorities now believe the source was not manmade.
27 Newsweek started receiving phone calls tonight telling us a loud boom, or series of booms were heard this evening in Southern Kentucky.
So we called emergency officals, to find out what is going on.
Brian Reams of the Laurel county EMS tells us they've had calls from Jackson to London, about a loud boom.
He says there are no reports of any injuries or damage.
So we called emergency officals, to find out what is going on.
Brian Reams of the Laurel county EMS tells us they've had calls from Jackson to London, about a loud boom.
He says there are no reports of any injuries or damage.
A former Clutha district man living in bushfire-ravaged Victoria watched in horror on Saturday night as a "fireball" loomed on the horizon.
As Scott McHaffie's Healesville home of four years appeared to be in line with a rapidly approaching fire front he watched from his roof as surrounding mountains erupted in flame. Only good luck and the whim of the weather saved his town from direct attack.
The former Popotunoa, near Clinton, man said it had been expected the small town only 60 kilometres east of Melbourne's central business district, in the heart of the winemaking Yarra Valley region, would come under direct attack from the Victoria fires and it was placed on an urgent threat level with residents warned to watch out for ember attacks.
As Scott McHaffie's Healesville home of four years appeared to be in line with a rapidly approaching fire front he watched from his roof as surrounding mountains erupted in flame. Only good luck and the whim of the weather saved his town from direct attack.
The former Popotunoa, near Clinton, man said it had been expected the small town only 60 kilometres east of Melbourne's central business district, in the heart of the winemaking Yarra Valley region, would come under direct attack from the Victoria fires and it was placed on an urgent threat level with residents warned to watch out for ember attacks.
© J. Perez Vallejo/SPMN)
A close-up image of the Bejar bolide, photographed from Torrelodones, Madrid, Spain.
A close-up image of the Bejar bolide, photographed from Torrelodones, Madrid, Spain.
Last July, people in Spain, Portugal and France watched the brilliant fireball produced by a boulder crashing down through the Earth's atmosphere. In a paper to be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez (Institute of Space Sciences, CSIC-IEEC, Spain), José M. Madiedo (University of Huelva-CIECEM, Spain) and Iwan P. Williams (Queen Mary, University of London) present dramatic images of this event.
The scientists go on to explain how the boulder may originate from a comet which broke up nearly 90 years ago and suggest the tantalising possibility that chunks of the boulder (and hence pieces of the comet) are waiting to be found on the ground.
Comment: Here's info on the Texas fireball in case you missed it.