Fire in the Sky
Local residents told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning.
Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a "rocky meteorite," based on the fragments analyzed.
Turns out it was a sonic boom.
Shaw F-16 pilots are conducting night training this week and were flying off the coast of the Grand Strand between 10:30 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, said Judy Lewis with the public affairs division of Shaw Air Force Base.
Comment: A family saw and recorded strange lights at North Myrtle Beach that night, but no mention of booms in their story.
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©Watauga Skies Observatory |
At the Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, a Sentinel all-sky video camera captured the fireball in flight.
Coastguards were alerted to what appeared to be red flares being fired into the sky off Saltscar Buoy, near Redcar, Teesside, on Wednesday night.
A lifeboat was launched but the search was called off after a large number of similar calls came in along the coast, spanning from Tyneside to Humberside.
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©MCA |
Comment: This article quotes an Air Force officer, "planes aren't allowed to fly fast enough to create a sonic boom over U.S. land, except over some remote areas."