Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 3

Calgarian left scratching head over odd light in night sky

She admits it sounds nutty.

But Janine Coburn swears she spotted a fiery green orb streaking across a clear night sky on the weekend. It was moving faster than an airplane, Coburn insists, and it was bigger than a falling star.

"It's as if it were flung by a giant," she said. "It was vivid."

The Somerset resident was out for some fresh air shortly before midnight on Sunday when she watched the mysterious object soaring north for at least five seconds before vanishing.

It's left Coburn scratching her head to explain the apparent cosmic show. Combing through online communities has been fruitless, so she's asking Calgarians for answers.

"I've done research since then and it hasn't made me feel any more comfortable with what I saw," she said Tuesday.

Phil Langill, director of the University of Calgary's observatory, is also unsure what Coburn witnessed. Photos pulled from a sky camera reveal Sunday was actually a cloudy evening, which leads Langill to believe it was a low-flying object - possibly fireworks.

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Reports: Huge fireball lights up evening sky over Punjab, India, 17 December 2012

17 December 2012 - Kamalpreet Singh, Jalandhar, Punjab, India @ 19.36
5 seconds duration - Travelling from left to right. Bright yellow colour. Same brightness as the moon, like a huge ball from the sky.
17 December 2012 - Rahul Sharma, Jalandhar, PUNJAB, India @ 18.50 (+5.30)
5 seconds duration - N-E direction, heading east and downward diagonally. Firstly it was bright green/blueish, then it changed into orange around midway. No sound. It was as bright as the full moon, like a huge burning ball. I have seen many meteors in my life, but this one was huge. It lit up the sky like a firework.

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What was that fireball streaking across the sky? Warwick, Rhode Island, 13 December 2012

There's a lively discussion on the Web about this video of a burning object streaking across the Warwick sky.


A providencejournal.com reader says a co-worker shot the video just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13.

One commenter on YouTube declared it a fake. Others had various explanations.

Fireball 3

Fireball plunges off Black Sea

Fireball in Black See
© YouTubeA big fireball plunged into a body of water near the Black Sea on Dec. 11 in the city of Ordu in Turkey.
A big fireball plunged into a body of water near the Black Sea Tuesday last week in the city of Ordu in Turkey. Comments to the video are widely varied. Some people connect it to the Dec. 12 (12/12/12) supposed mysticism, some say it's a UFO, and others refer to other news reports that link the fireball to the meteor shower at the time.

This report shows the security cam footage and says the falling bright object was a meteorite. The scene was uploaded to YouTube with a "boom" sound effect. Naturally, a couple of users noticed the odd sound.

"LOL, I love how these people dubbed the sound in. Terminal flash and sonic booms never happen at the same time. Sonics follow way later. Great video though," writes milkywaypride99.

"Fake!!! The speed of sound is 331.3 meters per second (1,087 feet per second) in dry air at 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). At a temperature like 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), the speed is 346 meters (1135.17ft.) per second. As you can see, the speed of sound changes depending on the temperature and the humidity; but if you want a round number, then something like 350 meters per second and 1,200 feet per second are reasonable numbers to use," writes gjonesy9.

Fireball

NASA video captures 2012 Geminid meteor shower fireball

Flaring brighter than the full moon, this spectacular Geminid meteor lit up the sky above Cartersville, Ga., at 2:29 a.m. EST on the morning of December 14, 2012. NASA says that this is one of the brightest fireballs observed by the NASA network of meteor cameras in over four years of operation.


The 2012 Geminid Meteor Shower, which peaked on December 13th and 14th, is the most intense meteor shower of the year and can still be seen this week. It lasts for days and can be seen from almost any point on Earth.

The 2012 Geminid meteor shower can be seen around 8 p.m. every evening at the viewer's respective local time. The meteor shower will be the most intense and directly overhead during the hours of 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. The meteor shower sets in the western sky just before sunrise.
A new moon coincides with the 2012 Geminid meteor shower peak. So the dark night sky will make the display even more spectacular.

Geminid meteors stream from a point called "the radiant" in the constellation Gemini.

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Probable meteor impacts field near Lancaster Pennsylvania

What the heck landed in Christ Beiler's cornfield nearly two weeks ago? A number of people in East Lampeter and Upper Leacock townships reported hearing a loud explosion Sunday, Dec. 2, about 5 a.m.

That noise coincided with what Beiler reportedly saw while he was milking cows on his farm along Hobson Road near Smoketown.

According to a friend, Sam Stoltzfus, of Gordonville, Beiler saw a light streak into his field before he heard a "boom.''

"He did find the spot in his field and you can still see it,'' Stoltzfus reports. "There was also a strong acrid smell. That's why they called the fire company.''

Christian Kauffman, assistant fire chief of the Witmer Fire Co. and Stoltzfus' son-in-law, says a number of people dialed 911 and the county's 9-1-1 Center alerted the fire company. Among the concerned were East Lampeter Township Police officers. They heard the explosion inside their station along Route 340, Kauffman says.

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Fireball lights up early morning sky over Maryland and Virginia, 13 December 2012

Initial Meteor Sightings

13 December 2012 - Millie Schaefer, Hunt Valley, MD, USA 06:35 AM EST
3 seconds duration - W-E (right to left), I was facing south. It was green, orange, white. As bright as the moon. Looked like a ball of fire.
13 December 2012 - Michael Esposito, Washington, DC USA 0635 EST
2 seconds duration - SSE - Right to Left - I was facing south. White, blue, orange colour. Much brighter than Venus - like a comet. Largest I've ever seen.

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Two separate fireballs, arriving 1.5 hours apart, fragment over Ontario, Canada, 12 December 2012

Two meteor events: ~22:30 and ~23:50 ET, 12 December 2012

12 December 12 - Glen, London, Ontario, Canada 23:50 EST
4 seconds duration - Straight down, looking east. Bright green large firework, slight fragmentation, like an upside down firework.
12 December 2012 - Yvonne MacInnis, TORONTO, Canada 1130PM
2-3 seconds duration - E-W, N-S. Bright orange with white blue tail, as bright as the sun/moon. Travelling southeast at Redpath and Eglinton. Brilliant!!

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Eyewitnesses report possible fireball impact and loud explosion in Sweden, 11 December 2012

Translated from Swedish by a SOTT.net reader

What is it that struck in Värmland County? SOS, police and the air rescue center has received calls from concerned Värmland citizens after a ball of light is said to have exploded in the evening.

"It lit up the sky and flew over us, then we heard an explosion," says Jessica Berg. Jessica Berg was out walking with a friend when they were surprised by the strong lights.

Calls have come from Stöllet, Ekshärad, Karlstad and Forshaga. All have seen a mysterious ball of light which then struck down - followed by an explosion. "They say they have seen a sharp blue glow, then a sharp orange ball strike," says Leif Svensson, duty officer at the Värmland police.

Surprised by the strong light

"The sky was completely silent when it flew over us. Then it hit ground near Klarälven river somewhere. Then we were struck by the sound, like an echo after an explosion," she says to Aftonbladet news paper and continues: It was mysterious.

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Fireball explodes above Sweden, 11 December 2012

Frightened residents in western Sweden reported seeing a bright, blue light racing across the night sky on Tuesday before an orange-coloured orb smashed into the ground in a mysterious phenomenon that has yet to be explained.

"It lit up the sky and flew over us, then we heard an explosion," witness Jessica Berg told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

"It was very weird. Uncomfortably weird."

Another witness, 24-year-old Sandra, thought the light may have been due to fireworks, but began to wonder when she never heard an accompanying pop.

"Then I thought it was a comet because it looked a little like an orb. It was red with a yellow sheen that surrounded and followed it," she told the paper.

Comment: Of course not, why should they bother? Nothing to see here folks, go back to watching TV...