Head for the hills! A mysterious giant "fireball" was spotted exploding over the ocean off the Jersey Shore last night, but officials had no idea last night what it was.
The unidentified falling object was first seen at about 8:40 p.m. by people on Normandy Beach in Ocean County, and was also spotted as far away as Fire Island and South Carolina, officials said.
"It was dispatched as a fireball, out over the ocean, going into the ocean," Deputy Chief Tim Cook of the Toms River, N.J., Fire Department told The Post.
At least 15 witnesses on the beach all described the same thing, he said.
Fire in the Sky
A series of explosions in Northeast have some residents looking for answers, and some law enforcement sources have an idea of what could be to blame.
Debris from used fireworks litters the neighborhood's streets, but residents do not think that is the source of the ear-splitting noise on Friday and Saturday nights along Isherwood street.
"Boom! It was loud; it just sound like something was coming down," said Northeast resident Brittany Slaughter.
Residents say it sounded like a plane crash or an earthquake.
Debris from used fireworks litters the neighborhood's streets, but residents do not think that is the source of the ear-splitting noise on Friday and Saturday nights along Isherwood street.
"Boom! It was loud; it just sound like something was coming down," said Northeast resident Brittany Slaughter.
Residents say it sounded like a plane crash or an earthquake.
The mystery of what caused a sonic boom-like noise over Co Down has deepened after the RAF denied reports a supersonic fighter jet was in Ulster skies at the time.
Residents in north Down were alarmed when they heard what they thought was an earthquake on Tuesday afternoon.
Residents in north Down were alarmed when they heard what they thought was an earthquake on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday, July 25th at approximately 10:00 UT, "a major daylight fireball tore across the skies of Slovenia, Croatia and Italy," reports veteran meteor observer Jure Atanackov of Maribor, Slovenia. "It produced two bright flashes that reached an estimated magnitude of -20 and also loud sonic booms."
"It was big... It was huge in the sky, " Cynthia Costello says.
Cynthia Costello is no stranger to meteor showers in shingle springs this time of year... But nothing prepared her for what she saw overnight.
Cynthia Costello is no stranger to meteor showers in shingle springs this time of year... But nothing prepared her for what she saw overnight.
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| ©KLTV7 |
Here at Sky & Telescope we get wind of all kinds of reports of meteorite falls. Few are legitimate. But on July 6th the sky really was falling over South America, when an incoming object broke apart in the lower atmosphere with a trio of ferocious explosions that shattered windows and shook the ground violently. Moments later, stones rained from the sky and pelted homes in the poor barrios surrounding the notorious city of Cali, Colombia.
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| ©Michael Farmer |
Sonora - Representatives with the Sonora Police Department and both the Tuolumne and Calaveras County Sheriff's Departments say they fielded numerous calls early this morning in regards to a "loud boom," and "structures shaking."
According to a Sonora Police Department report, there were several calls from residents who reported seeing "a blue light," just before the "loud boom." The incident reportedly occurred at 12:09am. The Police Department notes that it also received a call from a resident in Tuolumne, in which a female reported seeing what she thought was fireworks, and then something spiraling over her house.
According to a Sonora Police Department report, there were several calls from residents who reported seeing "a blue light," just before the "loud boom." The incident reportedly occurred at 12:09am. The Police Department notes that it also received a call from a resident in Tuolumne, in which a female reported seeing what she thought was fireworks, and then something spiraling over her house.
Comment: "somehow the result of a meteor shower" - this isn't a meteor shower:
A "meteor shower," also known as a "meteor storm," is a celestial event where a large number of meteors are seen within a very short period of time. These meteors are small fragments of cosmic debris entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed, leaving a streak of light that very quickly disappears. Most of the small fragments of cosmic debris are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all fragments are burnt up and never hit the earth's surface. Fragments which do contact earth's surface are called meteoritesThe description from the article is of a possible bolide entering and then exploding either in the atmosphere or on the surface of the earth, which causes structures to shake.
The southern Transdanubia area of Hungary at the border of Tolna County was shaken by the sound of an explosion Sunday afternoon when a melon-sized meteor apparently hit the ground in Bonyhád. Astronomers are analyzing the impact crater, which is two meters deep and seven meters in diameter, reports fn.hu.
Comment: A couple of points about this incident:
1. If you are a regular reader of these pages, you know that a meteor striking the Earth is not as uncommon as it once was...
2. No one saw it because it came from the west during the setting of the sun. Think about that one for a minute....
SCOTTSDALE - Stanley Fosha is looking for what woke him early Wednesday morning with a giant flash of white light and a thunderous boom.
The sky erupted around 2:15 a.m. near his home at 56th Street and Pinnacle Vista Road in Scottsdale, he said.
"I seriously thought someone was in my back yard taking a picture," Fosha said. "It sounded like someone taking a sledgehammer and banging a big metal drum."
The sky erupted around 2:15 a.m. near his home at 56th Street and Pinnacle Vista Road in Scottsdale, he said.
"I seriously thought someone was in my back yard taking a picture," Fosha said. "It sounded like someone taking a sledgehammer and banging a big metal drum."
Jaipur, India - A family in Jaipur told the scientists of Geological Survey of India (GSI) here that a meteorite fell in the courtyard of their home on Monday evening, Sahara Samay sources said.
A female member of the family told that a piece of sparkling stone fell in her home on Monday evening. I continued to look at it in awe for sometime before I went near it, she added.
A female member of the family told that a piece of sparkling stone fell in her home on Monday evening. I continued to look at it in awe for sometime before I went near it, she added.
Comment: To see the news report that shows the video of the meteorite from the picture above watch Mysterious Object Seen In Sky
Also, this meteorite may be related to this story "Loud Boom" Believed To Be The Result Of Meteor Shower - California