Fireballs
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Incoming! Bright bolide explodes over northern Finland (VIDEOS)


Sott.net
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 07:06 UTC
Bolide over Finland
© YouTube/Aurora Borealis LIVE! (screen capture)
A bright bolide (extremely bright meteor) exploded over northern Finland at 18:40 on November 16, 2017, the latest of several meteor fireball events this week including France, Germany, Spain, United States, and Argentina.

The aforementioned meteor fireball that flew over Germany on Nov 14th has been confirmed as the most reported fireball event from Europe , with 1962 reports so far, since the AMS and the IMO launched the international version of the AMS fireball form.


According to local media, there were also reports of 'heavy bangs' in an area of ​​a few hundred kilometers radius. Other recent reports of 'mysterious booms' include those in Alabama, Florida, San Diego, New Jersey and British Columbia, which could be attributed to exploding space rock fragments.

Aurora Service Tours, a tourism company operating in Utsjoki, northern Finland captured the phenomena, which momentarily turned night into day, on video from a webcam that is commonly used to promote the Northern Lights. It was described as, "Huge meteor burn up. I was sat about 10 metres to the left of the camera and felt a huge shockwave. It shook the cottage."


Comment: Could these recent events be part of the Taurid meteor shower which peaked this past Saturday? According to the American Meteor Society (AMS) website:
Associated with the comet Encke, the Taurids are actually two separate showers, with a Southern and a Northern component. Both branches of the Taurids are most notable for colorful fireballs and are often responsible for an increased number of fireball reports from September through November.

The first analysis conducted by former IMO president Dr. Juergen Rendtel of the Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam from the raw data shows that the events that occurred over Arizona and France cannot be linked to the Taurids: the Arizona event was moving from North-West to South-East while the French event was moving from North-East to South-West.

However, the events over Germany and Ohio fit the Taurids direction (East->West) and the low inclination angle at the time of the sightings! Note that the East-West direction is related to the Taurids only because the fireball occurred in the local evening. Later in the night or towards the morning the direction is different, of course.
Even NASA's own space data supports citizens' recent observations, namely that meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically.

For more information on meteors, comets, Oort cloud, Electric Universe model, Nemesis - Sol's dark companion - and much more, see Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk's book, Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.

Perhaps 'something wicked this way comes?'



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'Blue sphere with green tail' meteor fireball seen over Alsace, France


The Connexion
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 12:02 UTC
AMS event #4312-2017: Meteor fireball over France map
© AMS (screen capture)AMS event #4312-2017: Meteor fireball over France map
A "huge blue sphere" has been reported as appearing in the sky over Alsace last night, with witnesses speculating over what the object could have been.

Around 18h on Tuesday November 14, reports began emerging of a rounded, blue shape with a green tail, flying over the department and the Grand-Est region.

Reportedly larger than a star and moving too quickly to be a planet or a plane, the object left witnesses confused as to what it could be.

Commentators have suggested it was simply a form of meteor, and more precisely, a "fireball" meteor.

"It was likely a small celestial body, which travels very quickly in the Earth's atmosphere and which, on contact with the atmosphere, heats up its gases, giving this luminous trail behind it," explained Jean-Yves Marchal, scientist at the Strasbourg planetarium, speaking to French news source FranceInfo.


Comment: Other meteor fireball events between November 14 and 15, 2017 include: As well as visible celestial bodies, it is probable that space rock fragments are also exploding in the atmosphere. See also: Even NASA's own space data supports citizens' recent observations, namely the inconvenient fact that meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically.

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Another bright meteor fireball explodes over Germany (VIDEOS)


Sott.net
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 05:41 UTC
fireball over Germany AMS event # 4299-2017
© AMS (screen capture)AMS event # 4299-2017: Observers map
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received over 1500 reports of a bright meteor fireball exploding over southern Germany on Tuesday, November 14th 2017 around 16:48 UT.

The event (#4299-2017) was also observed from the neighbouring countries of Switzerland, Austria and France. One report from Sabine B. near Kempten describes the experience: "I've never seen anything like that in my life" according to Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Just over a week ago on November 6, 2017 another bright meteor fireball exploded over northern Germany.

meteor fireball over southern Germany
© AMS/S. KobsaMeteor fireball over southern Germany on November 14, 2017 as seen from Maselheim, Germany.
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Another meteor fireball blazes over California and Arizona


Sott.net
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 07:01 UTC
Meteor fireball over California
© AMS (screen capture)
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 44 reports (event 4167-2017) about a meteor fireball seen blazing over California and Arizona on Friday, November 10th 2017 around 04:38 UT. This latest event occurred just two days after another meteor fireball was recorded in the same region.


Comment: For more information check out our dedicated fireballs topic page and monthly SOTT Earth Changes Summary.

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - October 2017 : Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

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Meteorites found from September British Columbia, Alberta fireball

Scott Sutherland
The Weather Network
Fri, 10 Nov 2017 13:39 UTC
Meteorites recovered from the Kootenay region, near Crawford Bay, B.C., from the bright fireball seen on September 4, 2017
© Colin Hall/CBCMeteorites recovered from the Kootenay region, near Crawford Bay, B.C., from the bright fireball seen on September 4, 2017
When cameras captured a bright meteor fireball streak across the sky over B.C. and Alberta back in September, it sparked a search for fragments of the space rock that caused it, and this search appears to have paid off!

As often as meteors streak across the night sky, and even how many times we see bright fireball meteors, it's a rare thing to actually find pieces of the meteoroid that produced the flash of light.

According to meteorite hunter Geoff Notkin, searching for meteorites after a fall was an exhausting task, involving travelling all over the area where the fireball was seen, interviewing witnesses, and compiling a trajectory for the meteoroid as it plowed through the atmosphere. Starting in 2009, this became much easier, as scientists began to explore the use of Doppler radar in picking up these objects, to determine where they fell.

Comment: See also: Large meteor fireball lights up night sky over British Columbia, Canada

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Meteor fireball observed over California, Arizona and Nevada


Sott.net
Fri, 10 Nov 2017 06:59 UTC
California meteor fireball map
© American Meteor Society (screen capture)
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 17 reports (event 4157-2017) about a meteor fireball seen over California, Arizona and Nevada on Wednesday, November 8th 2017 around 09:22 UT.


Comment: Another bright meteor fireball lit up the skies over Utah earlier today. Wayne Frunein, who captured the celestial event on his home door camera said, "Suddenly got really bright and then we saw a streak across the sky. It was bright white at first and then it burst into many colors. It was really beautiful. It was spectacular."

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Bright meteor fireball explodes over northern Germany


Sott.net
Wed, 08 Nov 2017 16:49 UTC
Meteor fireball over Germany
© YouTube/AMS (screen capture)
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 23 reports of a bright meteor fireball exploding over northern Germany around 20:56 UT on November 6, 2017. The event (#4145-2017) was also observed from the neighbouring countries of Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, and France.


Comment: Readers interested in the changing near-space environment might enjoy our research into increased asteroid and fireball activity - including its causes, effects, and role in human history - in Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection (you can also read a review of the book here).

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Several reports of meteor fireball in sky over California, seen from Lake Tahoe


South Tahoe Now.com
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 17:50 UTC
meteor
File image
People from Fresno to Santa Rosa, California reported seeing a fireball across the sky Sunday evening around 5:24 p.m.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 19 reports from observers who said "the light got bigger before it burst, leaving a trail of smaller balls before disappearing," "it was a white streak followed by a few tiny fragments. Ended in the main fireball turning to a green color," and "it was flickering and sparkly, like a roman candle being shot across the sky."

South Shore resident Greg Felton said he was headed west on Highway 50 when he saw the bright ball across the sky towards Pyramid Peak.

South Tahoe Now contacted the University of California, Berkeley Astronomy Department, Beale AFB in Marysville and the National Weather Service in Reno before tracking down information on AMS.

Comment: View our dedicated topic pages concerning meteor fireball reports here.

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Meteor fireball caught on CCTV footage over South African city

Nic Andersen
The South African
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 17:33 UTC
Meteor over SA
© YouTube/Roodepoort Record
A meteor in full flight is a spectacular sight that most of us don't get to see in person up close. Where real life fails, technology and social media have stepped in to make sure we don't miss a thing.

The Roodepoort Record reports that a local resident and his wife made an interesting discovery while reviewing their CCTV footage. The man wanted to assist his neighbour in Vuurlelie Street after their dog was poisoned, so he thought he would take a look at the footage.

While they might not have found information about the dog, they did discover a meteor shooting through the sky around 9PM on Sunday.

While it only lasted a few seconds, the sheer brightness and apparent proximity of the object should be enough to satisfy your curiosity.

You can see the video of the event below.
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4 ways NASA plans to save us from Earth-bound asteroids


RT
Sat, 04 Nov 2017 18:44 UTC
Divert, intercept, destroy: 4 ways NASA plans to save us from Earth-bound asteroids
© NASAAn Earth-bound asteroid would need to be spotted decades in advance if scientists are to have a chance of stopping a disaster.
Hollywood movies have long dramatised the threat of Earth being wiped out in by an asteroid discovered at the 11th hour, only for disaster to be averted by all-American heroes such as Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck or a gristly Robert Duvall.

As NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office uses the asteroid "2012 TC4" to test its ability to respond to the existential threat posed by Near Earth Objects (NEOs), we look at four methods the international community hopes could one day help us avoid going the way of the dinosaurs.
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