Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 5

Meteor fireball lights up the sky in the upper Midwest

Fireball - stock image
Stock image
People in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Western Wisconsin witnessed something rare Sunday night, April 14, when a bright meteor lit up the night sky.

Jason Doty of south Fargo caught this video the fireball on his doorbell camera at 11:20 p.m.

A fireball is a larger than average meteor, a rock in space that hits the atmosphere at high speed causing it to burn up.

Thousands of fireballs occur every day around the globe, but most are not seen because they are usually over the ocean.

(See video here)

Comment: Two nights later another: Meteor fireball streaks through Minnesota's night sky


Fireball

Meteor fireball streaks through Minnesota's night sky

Fireball - stock image
Stock image
There were witness reports from Grand Forks all the way to the Twin Cities.

A vibrant meteor lit up the sky from North Dakota to Wisconsin overnight, and Michael Stanga captured it on video around 2:30 a.m. as he looked to the northwest from Otsego, Minnesota.


Comment: Two nights earlier in the same region: Meteor fireball lights up the sky in the upper Midwest


Fireball 2

Very bright meteor fireball illuminates night sky over Brazil

Brazil meteor
© YouTube/AMS/L. KLITZKE (screen capture)
A very bright meteor fireball illuminated the night sky over Rio Grande do Sul and State of Santa Catarina, Brazil on April 12, 2019 according to the American Meteor Society (AMS).

The impressive event (1702-2019) was recorded and a video uploaded to the AMS website.


Fireball 5

Meteor fireball recorded over San Antonio, Texas

Texas meteor
© AMS/J. BoydMeteor fireball over Texas (Event #2019-1671)
A bright meteor fireball was recorded blazing through the night sky over San Antonio, Texas on April 11, 2019.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 45 reports of the event.


Meteor

Meteor fireball cause of sonic boom heard in northeast Oklahoma

The GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) capture a meteor in NE Oklahoma around 5:20pm. The meteor was visible across much of the area and a large green fireball.

The meteor created a smoke trail as it burned across the sky; Tisha Rowley shot this picture of the smoke.
Meteor smoke trail over NE OK
The meteor generated a sonic boom as it burned entering Earth's atmosphere; the boom was heard across much of our area.

If you heard a low rumble or something that sounded like "thunder" in the distance between 5:20-5:25pm: you heard the meteor.

Comment: A daytime meteor was also seen earlier that day over Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia


Meteor

'Loud boom' heard in central North Carolina

Mystery boom in central NC
© WGHP
Residents living along a rural road in Trinity were alarmed by a mysterious noise and movement they say happened late Monday night.

"It was a very loud boom," Dianne Williams said.

Williams was alarmed to hear such a loud noise, followed by shaking. She said it was scary for her dogs too.

"I heard bang, bang, in the laundry room, so I opened the door where we keep our pots and pans and they were on the floor!" Williams said.

But she wasn't the only person along the road to hear the noise and feel the movement in the ground.


Fireball 2

Meteor fireball caught on home surveillance camera in Las Vegas, Nevada

Fireball over Las Vegas
© KSNV
A mysterious light in the sky was caught on home surveillance cameras in the southwest valley.

Was the fiery streak a meteor? A satellite?

A doorbell camera from a Rhodes Ranch home caught a streak of light flying across the sky Tuesday morning just after 4 a.m.

Southwest resident Shannon Graham said, "Amazing. I haven't seen anything like that. It's pretty cool to see that."

Shannon Graham lives in the area. Graham says the video of the mysterious streak brings back memories as a child looking up at the sky during meteor showers.

"They are not as uncommon as you think. I remember growing up. We would go outside and put lawn chairs out and watch the meteor showers", she says.


Fireball

Bright meteor fireball filmed streaking through Puerto Rico skies

fireball puerto
© Frankie LucenaScreen shot of the fireball from Franke Lucena's facebook
Skywatcher Franke Lucena filmed a fireball blazing through the night skies of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, at 04:01 local time on Tuesday 9th April. According to reports, the event lasted for about 5 seconds before burning up in the atmosphere.

Also that evening there have been 53 reports to the American Meteor Society (AMS) of a fireball sighted from the US, so there may be another sighting and more footage to come.

If you would like to report a sighting, you can do so with the AMS here.

Comment: The uptick in fireball sightings continues apace:


Fireball 4

Very bright meteor fireball fragments over Krasnoyarsk, Russia - Third such event in four months

bolide is seen in sky over Krasnoyarsk
© The Siberian TimesBusy receiving space wanderes, this time a bolide is seen in sky over Krasnoyarsk.
Bright and noisy with a long, sparkling green and yellow tail, it was filmed by multiple observers in Krasnoyarsk region.

The phenomenon caused fear on the ground.

'I panicked as it sounded and looked like a plane on fire, I got really scared of the noise and shine it created', said a local woman from Krasnoyarsk, the large industrial city.

'I pulled a phone out of a pocket, but it flew across the sky so fast that I only caught a long white trace it left.'

Some residents said the meteor was blindingly bright, akin to the light and sparks created during intense welding work.

It split into several parts before disappearing in the sky somewhere over Irkutsk region, east of Krasnoyarsk.

The local ministry of emergencies confirmed it registered a meteor, and said that it didn't pose a threat to people or infrastructure.

It is the third major meteor or meteorite event in four months.


Fireball 2

Meteor fireball over New Mexico

Fireball - stock image
Stock image
You can expect meteor activity to increase in the coming months, as we re-enter a time of year for major meteor showers. Here's what appears to be a random meteor, but a very bright one!

Have you seen a bright fireball? Report it to the American Meteor Society (AMS).

Here's Mike's report to the AMS.