© Wikimedia. The Southern Cross, near where the meteor fragment passed.
A resident was astounded when he spotted a large fireball while stargazing at Kaapmuiden last week. He approached an astronomical expert to find out what it was. A resident spotted a massive fireball in the sky, the result of a falling meteor fragment, while stargazing last Tuesday at 19:35.
Bertus van der Merwe said he was standing outside his house, looking south,
when a large fireball came from the east, moved west over the treetops and exploded. He was stunned and mesmerised, as it wasn't just a light, he could make out flames.He said when he went back into his house, he joked that he now knew where the expression "great balls of fire" comes from.
Van der Merwe found a fireball report form on the Internet and sent it to Tim Cooper of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa for answers.
Given the size and brightness of the fireball, Cooper stated that it might have been a large meteor fragment. After determining Van der Merwe's location, Cooper plotted the path the meteor may have followed.