Fire in the SkyS


Attention

Loud boom rattles windows, causes plaster to fall from ceilings in Coventry, UK

Mystery boom in Coventry
© Coventry Telegraph
The cause of an enormous bang that shook houses across Coventry remains a mystery.

It comes as defence chiefs denied the incident was caused by fighter jets flying at supersonic speed.

The incident on Sunday night sparked a major 999 operation as police and fire crews searched for the source of the 'explosion' which appeared to be centred in Longford.

It was so loud it was heard as far away as Willenhall, Walsgrave and Bedworth, and caused windows to rattle and plaster to fall from ceilings.

There were fears a gas substation in Grindle Road, near the Ricoh Arena, had exploded but this was ruled out.

There were also no major crashes in the area that night and the British Geological Survey said no earthquakes had been recorded at that time.

Fireball 2

Three bright meteor fireballs recorded over Spain in five hours

Spain meteor
© YouTube/Meteors (screen capture)
Three bright meteor events were spotted over Spain on the night of 4-5 December 2018, at 23:51, 2:33 and 4:41 local time, respectively. These were generated by three rocks from three different comets that hit the atmosphere at velocities ranging between 150,000 km/h and 200,000 km/h.

The meteors overflew the provinces of Valladolid, Granada, Jaén and Albacete. They were recorded in the framework of the SMART project (University of Huelva) from the meteor-observing stations located at La Hita (Toledo), Calar Alto (Almeria), La Sagra (Granada), Sierra Nevada (Granada) and Sevilla.


Fireball 5

Bright and slow meteor fireball filmed over Spain on Dec. 2

Fireball - stock image
Stock image
This bright and slow meteor event was recorded over Spain on 2018 December 2, at 4:46 local time (3:46 universal time).

It was produced by a fragment from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 50.000 km/h.

The fireball began at an altitude of around 81 km, and ended at a height of about 36 km.

It was recorded by the meteor observing stations operating in the framework of the SMART Project from the astronomical observatories of Sevilla, La Hita (Toledo), and La Sagra (Granada).


Meteor

Meteorite that fell in Madagascar came from early solar system

Meteorite found in Benenitra, Madagascar
© Wits UniversityA fragment of the Benenitra meteorite showing the black fusion crust and thumbprint-like depressions (called regmaglypts) that offered early evidence that this rock came from space. These features formed by melting during its entry into the atmosphere.
Four months ago, people in a small Madagascar town caught sight of a fireball shooting across the early-evening sky. Its boom was so loud, the ground shook.

A search for pieces of this celestial visitor soon followed. Researchers stitched together eyewitness accounts to help them understand what came down from the heavens on July 27.

What people saw crashing down, according to this detective work, was an ancient, 4.5 billion-year-old meteor from the early solar system.

This space rock is now called Benenitra, named after the small town in southwestern Madagascar where it landed. Fortunately, Benenitra rock fragments appear to have missed any people or buildings, according to a Nov. 26 statement about the findings.

Fireball 2

Watch as brilliant blue fireball streaks through sky in Hungary - Seen by stargazers in EIGHT other countries

hungary fireball
Stargazers were able to witness the breathtaking meteoritic debris firing up the skies in Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovakia and Germany.

The fireball shooting through the Hungarian sky on Thursday morning is scientifically known as a bolide, a meteorite fragment which bursts into especially bright flames once it enters the atmosphere.

Footage collected from several webcams located on the slopes of Veszprém county captured the moment the astonishing meteor passed by Earth.

While the phenomenon only lasted a matter of seconds the cameras were able to record the moment the sky turned bright blue as the fireball made its appearance.

The bolide was also spotted in Vienna, where cameras filmed a cobalt blue streak cut through the early morning sky at around 4 am GMT.

Comment: See also:


Fireball 2

Meteor fireball streaks over Toronto

Toronto meteor
© CNTower/Earthcam (screen capture)Meteor can be seen at the top of the photo, as captured by the CN Tower
If you looked up and saw what appeared to be a fireball in Toronto's skies last night wasn't Santa making his way to the city, it was a meteor.

Many Torontonians saw the meteor in above Toronto around 9:15 pm on Thursday night, and there are up to 33 reports so far listed through the American Meteor Society.

Scott Sutherland of the Weather Network also tweeted about the meteor, sharing a video captured from the CN Tower's camera, encouraging those who saw it to report it to the AMS. And Sutherland wasn't the only one who tweeted about the fireball in the sky.


Fireball 4

Glowing green fireball caught on dashcams streaking across Siberia's skies

fireball siberia 27th nov
Stunned locals have captured a glowing green fireball flying over the Russian city of Novosibirsk in Western Siberia. The phenomenon has created a buzz on social media and baffled scientists.

The flyby was spotted by locals in several areas of the city on Tuesday morning when the sky was still dark and luckily clear. Videos showing the green glowing meteor quickly started circulating on Russian social network Vkontakte and on YouTube.

The local planetarium stepped in, asking those who witnessed and filmed the event to send them all the visuals they had. Scientists say it was likely a bolide - an extremely bright meteor that explodes in the Earth's atmosphere and has an iconic dazzling tail.

Comment: The astronomers shouldn't be so surprised: Also check out SOTTs monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - October 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs




Fireball

Meteor fireball seen in sky from San Diego to Los Angeles

Flash of light in California sky
© Robb Webb
A mysterious flash of light, described by some as an explosion, was spotted in the skies over Southern California Tuesday morning, KTLA reported.

There was no immediate word from officials on what may have caused the flash, but it was seen by many people who took to social media to search for answers.

"Did anyone else see an explosion in the sky?? The best way I can describe it," Mallory Guillen from Victor Valley posted on Facebook about 4:20 a.m.

Robb Webb posted a photo of what he saw over the Los Angeles area on Twitter.

"Definitely saw 2 streaks of light in the sky this morning on Vern's dog walk. Managed to snap a pic of the 2nd one, right next to a plane," @ROBBWEBB3 posted.


Comment: YouTuber 'nannigoog' captured video footage of the fireball:




Question

People in southern Alabama report loud booming noise

Boom over Alabama
© WKRG
News 5 is getting reports of a loud boom over Mobile County. Mobile Fire even responded to a call of a possible explosion, but found nothing. From reports to our newsroom the boom was heard in Mobile and Grand Bay, Semmes, Daphne and other areas.

The most plausible explanation is a sonic boom from a military jet since there are many along the Gulf Coast.

NASA also said on Twitter it was conducting supersonic tests near Galveston Texas

There was however a Space-X rocket launch about the same time. It's not clear that's what everyone was hearing. Some of the reports into our newsroom would coincide with that time, but others were much earlier. The rocket launch was about 2:46 Central time according to Space-X's YouTube channel.

Meteor

'Mysterious' objects hit two cars in Scottsdale, Arizona

Objects hit cars in AZ
© 3TV/CBS 5
A Scottsdale couple is scratching their heads after two mysterious objects fell from the sky and hit their cars early Friday morning.

Randy and Mary Long were driving in separate vehicles south along Scottsdale Road near the Loop 101 around 6:15 a.m. Friday when both of their cars were hit by some sort of object.

"There was like, an explosion," said Randy Long.

The glass roof of his Mercedes shattered when the object hit it.

The two say they were traveling about 100 yards apart, without any vehicles or pedestrians nearby. Scottsdale PD says they didn't receive any calls for potential rock-throwers either.