Fireballs
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Comet 2

Space rock collision? USAF satellite explodes in Earth orbit

Jonathan O'Callaghan
Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:29 UTC
Image
A US Air Force satellite has exploded 500 miles above Earth's surface.
A 20-year-old US Air Force satellite has exploded in space, adding 43 pieces of space junk to Earth's orbit, reports have claimed.

The explosion happened on 3 February due to a sudden temperature spike, although the event has only just come to light.

However, talking to MailOnline, Nasa and Esa said the catastrophic event posed no significant risk to other satellites in Earth orbit.

Comment: Interestingly, on the same date a fireball was seen over the UK: Fireball meteor captured on camera over York, UK

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Fireball

Fireballs seen streaking over South Indian state of Kerala


On manorama
Sat, 28 Feb 2015 21:02 UTC
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The fireball that was spotted in Kerala skies
People all over the state were in the grip of panic as balls of fire streaked across the skies on Friday night. The fireballs were seen after 10 pm and in many places, mild tremors and thunder sounds accompanying the fire balls escalated apprehensions among the people.

While the phenomenon was first noticed in Ernakulam district, people from various parts of the state also reported seeing the phenomenon. Minister Adoor Prakash said that there was nothing to be concerned. Earthquake monitoring devices in six districts have not recorded anything unusual, said Ernakulam Collector M G Rajamanikyam. Other agencies such as ISRO and monitoring units of the Navy have also reported nothing unusual.


Most of the unofficial pictures that are doing the rounds are copies from websites and social media saw imaginations running riot with users even commenting that the sky was falling down in pieces. Many of these pictures were padded with background shots of Kochi to make them look authentic.

Comment: Fireball sightings along with asteroids are on rise. Mainstream narratives tend to normalize the phenomenon with explanations like space junk, ball lightening, seasonal meteor showers, 'one in a hundred years', etc. See SOTT world view for a list of fireballs documented by SOTT during the last year alone.



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Fireball 5

Mystery fireballs light up Kerala sky

Akhel Mathew
GulfNews.com
Fri, 27 Feb 2015 15:41 UTC
Fallen Fireball
© PTIForensic scientists collecting evidence from the spot after a fireball fell from sky at Karumaloor in Kochi on Saturday.
Thiruvananthapuram: Different parts of Kerala witnessed mysterious fireballs in the sky alongside sonic booms on Friday night, fuelling multiple theories about the reasons behind the phenomenon.

Early indications pointed to the likelihood it could even have been normal meteors brightening up the night sky. The phenomenon occurred on Friday around 10.30pm local time in the state. In some places in Ernakulam district, a few residents even alerted the police and fire and rescue personnel.

Social media, too, got into the act, with people posting their experiences of witnessing the aerial spectacle accompanied by a booming sound. Some of those who experienced it even mistook it for an earthquake. One person tweeted that a ball of fire had fallen over Kochi.

Some people in the state's commercial capital, Kochi said they felt mild tremors after witnessing a luminous object falling from the sky. Interestingly, the phenomenon seemed to be visible right to the southern end of the state. Sightings of the light in the sky were also reported from the northern districts of Malappuram, Palakkad and Kozhikode.

Some have speculated that the pieces that fell from the sky could be rocket debris that re-entered the earth's atmosphere. However, no special activity appears to have been spotted by the radars. Ernakulam district collector M.G. Rajamanickam said no clues had been received for any apparent earthquake.
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Fireball 5

Damage control? Fireballs seen over western U.S. were 'likely' Chinese rocket


abc7news.com
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 19:57 UTC
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Fireball
People from Arizona to Canada have reported seeing bright lights in the sky as a Chinese rocket burned up in the atmosphere.

Witnesses described the lights as a group of about three dozen fireballs moving slowly from south to north late Monday. Canadian photographer Neil Zeller says it looked like a cluster of fireballs followed by a long orange tail.

A NASA official told the Salt Lake Tribune the lights were a Chinese rocket booster that broke apart about 11 p.m. Mountain Time.

Calls to NASA from The Associated Press were directed to U.S. Strategic Command, who couldn't immediately confirm what it was.

Mike Hankey with the American Meteor Society says his organization got more than 150 reports of the event from nine Western states and Canada.

Source: AP
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Fireball 5

Daytime meteor fireball blazes over Melbourne, Australia - 25 February 2015

Tom Cowie
The Age
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 12:54 UTC

Lucky skywatchers who spotted a rare daylight meteor streaking across the Victorian sky might never see one again in their lifetime, said one astronomer.

Reports of the burst of flame across the blue sky started flooding through on social media at about 10.30am on Wednesday, with one describing it as a "fireball asteroid".

Astronomical Society of Victoria spokesman Perry Vlahos said he had heard reports of the sighting across the state, from Mildura to Wangaratta to Melbourne.

"It appears to have come in from the western sky burning with a bright orange colour and leaving a white trail behind it," he said.

Mr Vlahos said the soaring fireball was probably a space rock that has been pulled in by the Earth's gravity and burned up in the atmosphere.

The flaming rock did not hit the ground, he said, meaning it was a meteor as opposed to a meteorite.

Comment: "It is very rare that they saw it. I would say those that did wouldn't see another one in their lifetime." Really? These fireball / meteors are actually not so 'rare' these days! See here

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Fireball 3

Early morning fireball streaks across Pittsburgh, PA sky

Steve Novak
Lehighvalleylive.com
Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:01 UTC
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Anyone awake and looking skyward early Wednesday morning in the Pittsburgh area got a surprise.

A bright fireball was reported by more than 30 people and captured by NASA cameras, according to the American Meteor Society, which records such sightings.

The meteor was seen at 4:45 a.m. from parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York, according to a NASA blog.

The bright fireball was seen on NASA cameras and posted to YouTube by the meteor society. The video below comes from the Allegheny Observatory near Pittsburgh, the NASA blog says.

The Lehigh Valley area got a view of a bright meteor less than two months ago.

Anyone who sees a fireball can report it to the American Meteor Society on the nonprofit group's website.

Comment: Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction!

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Fireball 4

Meteor turns night into day over New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania

Erica Brecher
Democrat & Chronicle
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 12:54 UTC

Buffalo -- While most of us were sleeping Tuesday morning, something bright streaked across the skies.

Now, NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office confirms the fireball that many Western New Yorkers reported seeing around 4:50 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Bill Cooke, the lead person at the Meteoroid Environments Office, says the meteor was seen over Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.

Currently, the American Meteor Society shows on its website dozens of self-reported logs from people who submitted reports that they saw the meteor. Those are currently considered "pending" logs and have yet to be reviewed. At least two of them are from WNY including reports from Lockport and Cheektowaga.
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Fireball 2

Incoming: Sonic booms heard and bright light seen across northern New Zealand skies due to meteor

Neil Ratley
stuff.co.nz
Wed, 11 Feb 2015 23:58 UTC
meteor
An artist's rendition of a meteor entering earth's atmosphere.
Bright flashes and sonic booms in the night sky above the North Island are most likely a chunk of asteroid or a meteoroid bursting through the Earth's atmosphere and burning up.

Bright lights and explosions in the sky have been reported from Auckland to Nelson, and the Coromandel to New Plymouth, and even people in Christchurch and on the West Coast.

The event happened about 10pm. People reported that their doors rattled with the impact.

Descriptions of the light ranged from white and orange to green and blue.

The official twitter page for Auckland Civil Defence & Emergency Management said it was "definitely not lightning, most likely a #meteor".
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Fireball 4

Meteor caught on Devon beach camera, UK

Leon Siciliano
The Telegraph, UK
Fri, 06 Feb 2015 20:18 UTC
Dawlish Fireball
© The Telegraph, UK
Footage shows a glowing object - described as a meteor - streaking through the night sky before appearing to burn up or land in the sea in Devon.

The video was shot from a fixed camera at Dawlish Beach, Devon, UK early on Wednesday morning. The operator of the fixed camera later wrote online: "What was caught on camera the other night? Was it a bird or a plane, maybe even superman".

The video was caught by a camera that overlooks the Dawlish railway line - which was destroyed by storms one year ago this week.
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Fireball 4

Fireball meteor captured on camera over York, UK


The York Press, UK
Tue, 03 Feb 2015 04:28 UTC
Fireball
© The York Press, UKFireball meteor captured on camera over York.
York residents watched in amazement as they saw a fireball fall from the skies this morning.

Bishopthorpe mum Chantelle Byford captured this photograph of what is presumed to be a meteor, at 7.43am.

She posted it on Facebook, in the York Past and Present Group, prompting an excited response.
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