Fire in the Sky

Meteor turns night into day with bright explosion over South Africa

Sapa
TimesLive.co.za
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:44 UTC

© Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association
Satellite image of the Vredefort Dome meteor impact crater: South Africa is home to the world's largest and oldest (known) meteor impact crater

"What people saw last night was almost certainly a meteor," Claire Flanagan an astronomer at the Johannesburg Planetarium said.

People saw a bright "greenish, bluish" light heading towards Pretoria at about 11pm on Saturday night.

"It moved over the Gauteng Province towards Limpopo... it travels very fast and was about 90 kilometres up," said Flanagan.

The meteor was a hot topic of discussion in the forum on mybroadband.co.za.

"I saw a light flash the sky at about 8pm, at first I thought I was imagining it, but my friend also saw it," wrote someone who saw the meteor.

"... Maybe it's people getting abducted by aliens...I walked in the house looked out [and] the sky was lit. It looked how it normally [does] at 5am."

Comment: Update: This is allegedly a video of "the meteor that passed through South Africa and landed in Botswana on Saturday":

Update 2: A new video has surfaced showing this event in all its spectacular glory!

US: Did meteor hit near Dugway, Utah?

Desert News
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:36 UTC

There's new evidence that Wednesday morning's spectacular fireball meteor may have landed in Utah.

Queensland, Australia: Green object that lit up sky a chip off an old meteor

Rodney Chester
The Courier-Mail
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:10 UTC

Experts say a fire ball that streaked across the sky above south-east Queensland last night was a "chip off the old block of some asteroid".

The meteor was spotted by people from the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and across Brisbane around 9.45pm.

Witnesses said the meteor was a green glow travelling from south-east to north-west, leaving a visible trail for 10 to 15 minutes.

Speaking on ABC radio this morning, Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium curator Mark Rigby ruled out space junk as an explanation.

Mississippi, US: Sonic Boom's Source Still a Mystery

Karen Nelson
Sun Herald
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:09 UTC

Keesler confirms jet training

Pascagoula - The boom that rattled windows in Pascagoula and Moss Point, swamped police phone lines and brought entire neighborhoods of people out of their homes to see what was happening was almost as much a mystery Wednesday as it was Tuesday night when it happened.

Keesler Air Force base told city police around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday the boom was caused by military jets on a training exercise in the Gulf, but that the jets were not from Keesler.

On Wednesday security at the base reconfirmed the jets had contacted the tower Tuesday night and were told there was a training exercise.

But what jets, and whose jets were flying at supersonic speeds over the Gulf at night?

Kansas, US: Biophysicist confirms Liberal boy's meteorite discovery

Clara Kilbourn
The Hutchinson News
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:20 UTC

The 2-inch-diameter gun-metal black rock that 10-year-old Chandler Harp found Saturday in his Liberal backyard traveled a long way to get there.

© The Hutchinson News/(Courtesy photo)
The triangle-shaped fresh iron meteorite discovered in Liberal fell to Earth from as far away as 100 million miles.

"There's no question in my mind whatsoever that what they have is a meteorite," said Don Stimpson of Haviland, a biophysicist who owns the Kansas Meteorite Museum and Nature Center on U.S. 54/400 near Greensburg.

US: Meteor the size of oven lights up the night sky, alarms Utahns

KSL
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:04 UTC

A fast moving meteor lit up the night skies over most of Utah just after midnight Wednesday. Moments later, the phones lit up at KSL as people across the state called to tell us what they saw and ask what it was.

Utahns are still talking Wednesday about what scientists are calling a "remarkable midnight fireball." The source of all the excitement was basically a rock, falling from space. When a meteor enters the atmosphere, it gives off a lot of heat and light.

Folks at the Clark Planetarium say this rock was big--between the size of a microwave and washer-dryer unit.

Huge fireball explodes over western US

SpaceWeather.com
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:35 UTC

As forecasters predicted, there was a surge of Leonid meteors during the late hours of Nov. 17th. Preliminary counts from the International Meteor Organization exceed 120 meteors per hour.

A remarkable midnight fireball that "turned night into day" over parts of the western United States last night was not a Leonid. Infrasound measurements suggest a sporadic asteroid not associated with the Leonid debris stream. The space rock exploded in the atmosphere with an energy equivalent to 0.5 - 1 kilotons of TNT.

Approximately 6 hours later, observers in Utah and Colorado witnessed a twisting iridescent-blue cloud in the dawn sky.

© Jeff Kendrick
Image taken: Nov. 18, 2009
Location: Looking South East of SLC, UT just before dawn 11/18/2009
Details: First appeared as a ring when the eastern sky was dark. Disappeared completely as the sun came up

Meteor lit up night sky, caught on video

Edgar Linares
Idaho's NewsChannel 7
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:26 UTC

Boise - A number of people called our newsroom, e-mailed us, and were talking about it on Twitter.

A meteor streaked across the night sky-- lighting it up as if it were daytime.

US: Fireball Lights Up Night Sky

Michael Coats
KIFI
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:40 UTC

People from all over the Mountain West reported a "bright light" or "meteor streak" around midnight Wednesday morning.

Reports are coming in from Eastern and Southern Idaho, all throughout Utah and even Las Vegas.

Several viewers called into the Local News 8 newsroom reporting the bright light which lasted for just a few seconds.

Some have reported it as a "ball of light" and others called to say it looked more like a "green streak."

Media outlets in Salt Lake City report that some even felt a "slight rumble" or "sonic boom."

Fireball streaks through sky over Utah

ABC4 News
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:42 UTC

A large ball of fire streaking across the night time skies just after midnight had many Utahn's wondering what they saw early Wednesday morning.

Dozens of calls came streaming into the ABC 4 newsroom with people wondering if they saw a shooting star, others wondered if it was the end of the world, military testing, or even a UFO.

Don't worry, they have a digital currency to solve the problem. After they've taken everything from us.

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Fire in the Sky

Meteor turns night into day with bright explosion over South Africa

US: Did meteor hit near Dugway, Utah?

Queensland, Australia: Green object that lit up sky a chip off an old meteor

Mississippi, US: Sonic Boom's Source Still a Mystery

Kansas, US: Biophysicist confirms Liberal boy's meteorite discovery

US: Meteor the size of oven lights up the night sky, alarms Utahns

Huge fireball explodes over western US

Meteor lit up night sky, caught on video

US: Fireball Lights Up Night Sky

Fireball streaks through sky over Utah

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