Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 2

Readers report unusual object in the sky over Malta

Several readers contacted our website this evening to report an unusual object, possibly a comet, crossing low in the night sky.

Edward Zammit, who lives in Mellieha, said that at about 8.45 he saw a comet in the sky crossing from north to the west of Malta. "It wasn't a shooting star, I saw it passing for about 15 seconds until is was hidden by nearby building," he said.

Markatia Bugeja reported that she had just seen 'the most wonderful asteroid passing over Malta at enormous speed.'

"I think it fell into the sea. It was a huge ball of fire with a long tail, it was amazing," she said, hoping that somebody had grabbed a picture.

Robert Bonello, said he had seen what appeared to be a 'mega shooting star or meteorite with a yellow tail behind it...extremely fast, beautiful but scary.

He asked if anyone could give an explanation.

Comet 2

Rhode Island residents hear boom, see lights, over Narragansett Bay

BARRINGTON, R.I. - Rhode Island and Coast Guard officials say they haven't found anything after receiving reports about an explosion in Narragansett Bay.

People on both sides of the bay in Barrington and Warwick and as far away as Somerset, Mass., reported hearing what sounded like an explosion at about 11:30 p.m. Monday. Some also reported seeing a light.

Area police and firefighters tried to find the source of the noise and light during land and water searches, but officials say nothing was found.

Coast Guard crews and local officials also searched Monday night for a boat reported to be in distress, but didn't find anything.

TV stations reported receiving reports of an explosion followed by a loud hum. A Coast Guard spokesman says the Conimicut lighthouse near Warwick emits a hum pattern.

Fireball 2

Multi-colored full moon-sized fireball with enormous trail blazes over Northeastern US, 28 November 2012

Initial Meteor Sighting Reports

28 November 2012 - Phil, Georgetown, MA 23:00 EST
6 seconds duration - East to West. Bright and white, same as the moon. I saw fragmentation and a tail. It was very low in the sky.
28 November 2012 - Benjamin Lipiecki, Brighton, Massachusetts, USA 2340
Half a second duration, maybe a whole second. Saw it when looking Northeast as it traveled right to left at a very steep angel. The fireball started blue, then increased in size and changed to red. I was outside for several more minutes and did not hear any sound. Bright enough to see VERY clearly in a major urban area. The fireball at least appeared larger than the moon. Did not see any fragmentation, but the fireball did get very large and looked like it exploded or burnt out. Was unlike anything I've ever seen or expected to see in the night sky. At first I thought I must have been seeing things, but a friend of mine across town saw it too, and three or four people on twitter seem to also have seen it.
28 November 2012 - Bonnie, Worcester, Mass 11:41 p.m.
3-4 seconds duration - Facing north, I saw it go from right to left. It was green with gold edges, and was fast! Clear as day! Maybe its edges fragmented, like sparks of gold colors.
28 November 2012 - Rick Shaffer, Reading, MA, USA 23:40:00
1-2 seconds duration - East-Northeast. Light green color, no sound. Bright as the moon, moving in opposite direction I was travelling in. It appeared very large and close.

Fireball 2

Spectacular blue-green fireball fragments over Hungary and Poland, 29 November 2012




Initial Reports

29 November 2012 - Hunor, Ocsa, Hungary 18:00:00
I suppose it was around 12 seconds duration. If facing the trail, then its direction was SE-NW, from right to left. I think it started over Alsapakony and stopped above Felsopakony. It had a bright white flame and was bright red at the contact zone. It looked like the lights of a landing airplane at a distance of 500m. I observed fragmentation into at least three or four major parts. Unfortunately I was too late to take a picture.
29 November 2012 - Lukasz, RACIBORZ, POLAND 17:50:00
6 seconds duration. I was facing SSE, it went from left to right (the meteor bearing was SW). There was no sound, it was bright white, with some green and a little blue. It looked like car headlights from about 200m away. 3-4 fragments fell off during its flight. It looked like it was going pretty slow (though I've never seen a meteor before). Its flight path was very flat, almost horizontal. It flew for 6 seconds and then suddenly disappeared (maybe hidden behind clouds).

Fireball

Fireball trailing 'red fire' falls over Georgia, USA, 29 November 2012

Image
© lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com
Bill Cooke of NASA confirms!

"Confirm bright event on November 30 at 03:35:50 UTC (November 29, 22:35:50 EST).Confirm slow and low event, seen in 4 cameras. Trajectory solution is as follows:

Start location: 86.267 W, 33.959 N at an altitude of 75.0 km
End location: 86.178 W, 33.757 N at an altitude of 37.5 km
Initial speed of 16.0 +/- 0.7 km/s
Decelerated to 9.2 km/s

Technically a possible meteorite dropper, but IMO not likely, as it seems to have small mass based on the meteor brightness. No terminal flare."

Regards,

Bill"

Fireball 4

Second Queensland fireball in one week: Bright green fireball trails over southeastern Australia, 30 November 2012

Initial Reports

30 November 2012 - Joanne Nabiac, NSW, Australia 10.46pm
4 seconds duration - Southwest direction. Bright green and small explosion noise. Same brightness as the moon. Super fast, looked like it had a tail but it was the glow behind it. I have never seen anything like this. The "poof" noise sounded far, far away.
30 November 2012 - Fallabella, BRIERFIELD, NSW, Australia 22:30:00
8 seconds duration - N-S direction, I was facing north. Green outline, orange and white colour. Bright as tonight's full moon. Like a super-sized shooting star falling to earth.
30 November 2012 - Nikki Chandler, QLD, Australia Roughly 22.30
2 seconds duration - I saw it out of a small window. Not sure what direction. Bright white ball falling from the sky. It was beautiful.

Comment: Daytime fireball explodes over Queensland, Australia, leaves visible trail


Fireball 5

Daytime fireball explodes over Queensland, Australia, leaves visible trail

Meteor
© CQ NewsThe suspicious cloud of smoke which appeared in the sky on Monday is said to have been a meteorite. Plenty of locals witnessed the event.
A loud boom followed by a cloud of smoke in the sky had many Central Highlands residents taking a closer look on Monday.

Many residents speculated the theory behind the mysterious object was a meteorite heading for Earth at the speed of sound and disintegrating on entry.

A spokesman from the Bureau of Meteorology said that theory was most likely the correct explanation.

"We had a call from an Emerald resident at about 7pm (Monday night), wanting to know what it was," the spokesman said.

"It could have been a meteorite... or it may have been a bit of space debris."

If it was a meteorite, it could have been about 20,000 feet high, and the sound residents heard would have been a shockwave.

Fireball 4

Green fireball observed over Vancouver, 15 November 2012

A resident of Vancouver, Canada has reported sighting a green fireball in the sky, on the 15th of November, 2012 at 8:57 PM. This report has been obtained from a testimony included in the database of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).

The witness describes the location, time and direction of the sighting.

"I was standing on the south side of West 4th St almost at the corner (2 blocks in) of Lonsdale Ave and West 4th, North Vancouver, BC, talking to a friend/colleague when I observed at exactly 8:57pm (20:57) PST a green object moving through the clouds heading in a North Westerly direction."

He also describes its movement.

"As the object passed over my head, it appeared to be descending and/or losing altitude, rate of speed unknown."

The witness then describes his first impression of the object.

"First thought/impression was a flare then a unique meteor (see Wikipedia - Green Fireballs)."

Fireball 4

Fireball "bright as the moon" seen across California and Nevada, 24 November 2012

24 November 2012 - Brett Hankins Sonora, CA USA PST 5 seconds 9:05 N E
white lots of sparks moon yes it was huge and looked almost like the moon falling
24 November 2012 - David Wright Fallon, NV, US 2100 Pacific time
About 1 sec ~45deg above horizon to S, travel down, SS W. Bright Green, and broke apart VERY bright, like aircraft landing light. Yes, appeared to explode and trail pieces.
24 November 2012 - Patty Howard Clovis, CA USA 9:05 PM Pacific
7 seconds Facing north Bright yellow and red sun huge flame it looked so close, right over my head. didnt have time to grab my phone out of my pocket. it was amazing. Area was around Herndon Avenue 1/4 mile from Acadmey, Clovis, CA

Fireball 3

Large red-green fireball fragments low over Queensland, Australia, momentarily turning night into day, 21 November 2012

21 November 2012 - Jeff Redlynch, Cairns, QLD, Australia approx 2300 GMT+10 approx
3-4 seconds duration. Looking South, meteor travelled in a SW direction. Very bright green, lit up the sky with green light, central yellow/orange flame much brighter than the moon. Fragmented as it travelled across the sky, bits streaking and broke up into 2 or 3 large pieces before disappearing. At first I thought it was someone letting off a boat flare, but it couldn't be as it was far too high and over land. Amazingly vivid green light lit up the whole sky to the South, with an orange flaming centre.
21 November 2012 - David Vincent, Townsville Qld 22:52:00
Just seen lasted for aprox 3 seconds. I was facing North, it traveled from right to left. Bright white then a bright green. Very bright, seen through tinted windows. Was very low in the sky.