Fireballs
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Bright meteor fireball with terminal explosion captured over Tucson, Arizona

Bright meteor in Tucson AZ sky with a terminal explosion.
Fireball exploding over Arizona
© Eliot Herman
Likely a sporadic meteor at 10:24 pm on December 9th 2017 displaying a terminal explosion as the meteor is destroyed.

Stretched version
Single frame # 506 from all sky movie
All sky CCD camera movie of night sky

Fireball

Out of this world: ISS astronaut captures stunning images of meteorite above Mexico (VIDEO)

International Space Station.
© A view of Earth from the International Space Station. / ReutersA view of Earth from the International Space Station.
The moment a shooting star rocketed over the coast of Mexico has been captured from a vantage point so unique that one could say it's simply out of this world.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik filmed the streak of burning rock from the orbiting space lab of the International Space Station (ISS) Friday.

Bresnik, a member of NASA Expedition Crew 52/53 which has been aboard the ISS since June, was filming a timelapse video of the Earth when the phenomenon occurred right before his very eyes.

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Meteor fireball shoots across Mediterranean sky

The fireball was spotted travelling over the Mediterranean Sea
The fireball was spotted travelling over the Mediterranean Sea
A fireball has been spotted streaking across the Mediterranean sky.

The phenomenon was created after a rock abruptly came away from an asteroid and entered the Earth's atmosphere in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The fireball appeared at 5.22am and could be seen from the coast of Valencia to the Balearic Islands.

It was captured by sensors installed at the University of Huelva in the Astronomical Complex of La Hita, in La Puebla de Almoradiel, Toledo in Spain.

Professor José María Madievo at the university said in a press release that the fireball had been caused any a rock breaking away from an asteroid.


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Bright meteor fireball explodes over Pennsylvania, sonic boom reported (VIDEOS)

Pennsylvania meteor fireball
© M. Hankey, AMSPennsylvania meteor fireball on December 2, 2017.
If you were looking up at the sky at 3 a.m. Saturday, you may have seen a bright flash of light.

It turns out the flash was the result of a fireball meteor.

WGAL reports the fireball meteor was seen over most of the northeastern part of the country. Fireball meteors are brighter than normal meteors, and usually end with a flash as they disintegrate in the atmosphere.

Numerous photos and videos have made their rounds on social media.


Comment: The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received over 100 reports (#4827-2017) of this meteor fireball seen over NY, MD, PA, VA, OH, DE, CT, NJ, RI, WV, NH, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, MA, DC, Connecticut and Maryland on Saturday, December 2nd 2017 around 08:09 UT. Included in these reports, 11 people mention hearing an associated sound, such as a "boom" or "crackle".

As well as visible celestial bodies, it is probable that space rock fragments are also exploding in the atmosphere. See also: BOOM! Mysterious blasts rattling the skies are on the increase around the world - UPDATE at least 64 documented events (VIDEO)

These related articles are from just last week: Even NASA's own space data supports citizens' recent observations, namely the inconvenient fact that meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically.


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Oppenheimer Ranch Project Report: US West coast firestorm albedo grows - Shishaldin Volcano alert

fires
SoCal Wildfires: Los Angeles, Ventura declare state of emergency as 200 000 evacuate.

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NASA confirms more than 60 reports of meteor fireball across Florida skies

Fireball in the sky
© Heather FoxFireball in the sky
NASA confirms at least 60 reports of a fireball seen across Florida skies on Tuesday evening, just after the sun set.

Video captured on dash cam video shows the fireball falling near Little Road and 54 around 6:30 Tuesday.

A Riverview family also caught video of the fireball on their security camera outside their house.

The American Meteor Society, a non-profit scientific organization had at least 55 reports across Florida too.

To can see their interactive map here: click here.


Comment: Just 4 days prior to this event came the following report from the same state: Another mysterious boom shakes buildings, this time in Daytona Beach, Florida


Meteor

On this day in 1954, Alabama woman struck by nine-pound meteorite

Ann Hodges
© Alabama Museum of Natural HistoryAnn Hodges was struck by a meteor in 1954 while she was inside her home in Sylacauga, Alabama.
The state of Alabama is known for many things; football and politics come immediately to mind.

Well, you can add another item to the state's unique history and that is, Alabama is the only place in the world where it's confirmed a person was struck and injured by a falling meteorite.

On this date in 1954, Mrs. Ann Hodges was lying on her couch in her Sylacauga home, when a nine-pound meteorite crashed through her roof.

The extra-terrestrial stone struck her hip and created a football sized bruise.

Both state and national scientists examined the fragment.

Meteor

Another unexplained boom heard in Alabama (Update)

Ben Flanagan
© Ben Flanagan/al.com
Another unexplained loud boom was heard over the Birmingham area Sunday morning, the latest in a series that has defied explanation.

Meteorologist James Spann retweeted a number of reports from people in the Birmingham area who reported hearing one or two booms around 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Reports came from Mountain Brook, Forest Park and other areas.

The Jefferson County EMA said it had gotten a report of a double boom at about 7:29, though it raised the possibility that the second boom was an echo. The agency said it had "no information on the cause at this time."


Comment: See also: Mysterious loud 'boom' heard across North Alabama - NASA unsure of origin

Update: On November 24th, a YouTuber in Alabama uploaded a home surveillance video that recorded a boom that shook their house:
People around the world are reporting mysterious booms coming from the sky. This one was caught on camera in Alabama.

Birmingham National Weather Service tweeted: 'Loud boom heard: we do not see anything indicating large fire/smoke on radar or satellite; nothing on USGS indicating an earthquake.'

Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, said, 'No one can figure out the cause.'



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Russian astronomers show big 'unusual orbit' asteroid 3200 Phaethon approaching Earth - UPDATE

Russian Astronomers Show Big Asteroid Approaching the Earth
© CC0/Pixabay
The astronomer community at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University used its own Astro-Model simulation environment to produce a virtual image of object 3200 Phaethon approaching the Earth, plus the expected Geminids meteor shower.

December 17, 2017 will see an interesting astronomic event in the form of object 3200 Phaethon approaching our planet. This is a fairly large asteroid nearly 5 kilometers in diameter, which will fly past the Earth within 10 million kilometers, close by space standards.

The asteroid derives its name from its unusual orbit that in perihelia brings it closer to the Sun than any other named asteroid (20 million kilometers). To compare: Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun in the Solar system, is 46 million kilometers from the Sun.


Comment: The activity in our sky is increasing and in the last week or so there have been at least these sightings of meteor-fireballs:

(8th Nov) Bright meteor fireball explodes over northern Germany

(13th Nov) Impressive fireball blazes over Toledo, in the South of Spain (VIDEO)

(14th Nov) 'Blue sphere with green tail' meteor fireball seen over Alsace, France

(15th Nov) Another bright meteor fireball explodes over Germany (VIDEOS)

(15th Nov) Meteor fireball recorded over Ohio

(15th Nov) Fireball streaks across Phoenix sky (VIDEO)

(15th Nov) Bright fireball-meteor lights up sky over San Juan, Argentina

And for a more in-depth look at the recent events check out: (16th Nov) Incoming! Bright bolide explodes over northern Finland (VIDEOS)


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Two large meteor fireballs blaze over southern England, dozens of people report hearing a deafening boom (UPDATE)

Bolide over Wilcot, UK
© UK Meteor Observation NetworkThe fireball filmed in Wilcot, Wiltshire was classified as a bolide which is the term used when a meteor causes a flash as bright as the moon.

Two huge fireballs were widely seen across the country as they blazed across the skies this weekend.

Dozens of skywatchers reported spotting the first meteor which flew over England, Wales and northern France shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Several even said they heard rumbling and 'multiple booms lasting 2-3 seconds' as the object passed overhead although others said it was silent.

Experts classified it as a bolide, which is the term used when a meteor causes a flash as bright as the moon.

Footage of the fireball, filmed in Wilcot, Wiltshire, shows a bright dot rapidly getting bigger as it travels across the sky.

It culminates in a huge flash of light before quickly reducing in size until it disappears.

Another meteor was seen flying across the same region six hours later with some witnesses reporting that it appeared to break up in the sky.

UK Meteor Observation Network member Richard Fleet said the first fireball was the second brightest the country had seen in three years.


Comment: The American Meteor Society have received over 90 and 160 reports of the two events (4590-2017 and 4588-2017). More 'mysterious booms' are being reported worldwide, see also:

BOOM! Mysterious blasts rattling the skies are on the increase around the world - UPDATE at least 64 documented events (VIDEO)

Updated on 28th November: Video footage has now emerged of the second fireball seen across the southern UK on the 25th of November at 07:13 GMT:


The following is from South Wales:


Another video, this time taken in Birmingham: