Fireballs
It probably wasn't Superman who drew central Iowans' eyes to the sky Thursday evening. A meteor is the more likely explanation for the streak of light that reportedly lasted just a few seconds.
The National Weather Service was able to catch a ball of light on one of its cameras in Iowa City, but thinks its footage may show the planet Venus, which was also visible around the same time.
Kurt Kotenberg of the NWS said the agency has received accounts of people seeing a "fireball."
"We're looking at the reports, also," Kotenberg said. "The interesting thing's about it, Venus was visible in the sky just after sunset."
Social media posts from Iowans claiming to have seen the potential meteor indicate it appeared over central Iowa skies about 5:40 p.m., although it seems few eyewitnesses had a camera ready.
© Tim Maune
The fireball was spotted in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee.
The fireball was spotted in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee.
As of 9:15 p.m., the American Meteor Society had recorded six reports from people who spotted this fireball in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee between 4:17 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. CST.
One of our Facebook fans, Tim Maune, was able to capture the image on camera.
All of the fireball spotters say there was no sound accompanying the fireball.
So what was it? According to the AMS, a fireball is another name for a very bright meteor, one with about the same brightness as Venus in the morning or evening sky.
If you saw the fireball, the AMS wants to hear from you. File a report online, with as many details as you can remember
Did you hear it?
Around 11 p.m. Christmas Eve, people reported hearing a loud "boom" in Toronto, Newmarket, Aurora, Belleville, Richmond Hill, and Sutton. Not only was the boom heard, but it rattled houses, leaving many to believe that a tree had fallen on their rooftop.
Even more mysterious is that some people reported hearing booms at other times during the day as well, ranging from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Christmas morning.
© Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images
On Christmas Eve, many people in and around Toronto reported hearing a loud "boom," like something had fallen on their house.
On Christmas Eve, many people in and around Toronto reported hearing a loud "boom," like something had fallen on their house.
Loud boom in #YorkRegion around 11pm last night. Heard in #Newmarket #Aurora and #RichmondHill. #meteor? #earthquake? #sonicboom? #santa?But so far, there hasn't been an official explanation.
- Rob Jones™ (@blindedbtflash) December 25, 2013
@NebulousNikki that's what we thought too! Lots of neighbours heard it too. Can't figure out what it was... #Kingston
- Kate Kaminska (@katekaminska1) December 25, 2013
@NebulousNikki @RodSinclair1 same in Durham / Brooklin. Over 20 friends in area reporting it at 7:45, again around 11 and about midnight
- Micheline Robichaud (@SweetMinxy) December 25, 2013
Even more mysterious is that some people reported hearing booms at other times during the day as well, ranging from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Christmas morning.
Strange noises and flashes of light are what hundreds of people say they saw and heard Wednesday night in Montgomery County.
The Montgomery County dispatch says they got a few hundred calls from people reporting hearing several loud noises, and some people reported seeing flashes of lights.
Local gas companies did not report any ruptured lines.
"Could be fracturing from the mountains when they fall, but that doesn't explain the flashing light. We do have meteor showers right now. Could be meteors coming through and the sonic booms were from them entering the atmosphere," said resident Janet Johnson.
The cause of those noises and lights are still under investigation.
The Montgomery County dispatch says they got a few hundred calls from people reporting hearing several loud noises, and some people reported seeing flashes of lights.
Local gas companies did not report any ruptured lines.
"Could be fracturing from the mountains when they fall, but that doesn't explain the flashing light. We do have meteor showers right now. Could be meteors coming through and the sonic booms were from them entering the atmosphere," said resident Janet Johnson.
The cause of those noises and lights are still under investigation.
© Gloucester Citizen, UK
A mocked up image of what the meteor is said to have looked like.
A mocked up image of what the meteor is said to have looked like.
Scores of Gloucestershire people have reported seeing the object. The most recent sighting was at 8am yesterday but there have been reports of other meteor sighting earlier in the month.
It is also thought 2014 is going to a bumper year for meteor attacks.
Daytime fireball spotted over Sweden yesterday and another over the UK this morning! This can only mean one thing #omgwearallgoingtodieOne eyewitness Gill Brimfield said: "My husband and I were driving home from Evesham last Wednesday evening and spotted a really big bright light in the sky, which was not a star. It was not moving and by the time we got to Churchdown it was still there.
- Virtual Astronomer (@VirtualAstro) December 19, 2013
The AMS has received over 40 reports so far about a fireball over central Tennessee last night around 8:20 central time. The event was captured by two cameras in the NASA All Sky Fireball Network operated by Bill Cooke of the Marshall Space Flight Center.
© NASA / Bill Cooke
Super Bolide over Tennessee – December 17th, 2013
Super Bolide over Tennessee – December 17th, 2013
© Screenshot/Dropcam/wilmadavid
The fireball seen above a house in Trussville, Alabama.
The fireball seen above a house in Trussville, Alabama.
People across the state began reporting seeing a fireball around 9:25 p.m. EDT.
"Did anyone else just see that HUGE fireball in the western Birmingham sky?!" said Christoper Flores via Twitter.
"Just saw a huge meteor fall in northern sky," added Ron Dewberry. "Amazing fireball falling. Think the biggest and brightest I've ever seen. Seen from Clay County."
"I saw it at Vulcan," Mark McCollister added." Looked like a Roman candle."
Sightings also happened in Springville, Cullman, and Demopolis, among other areas.
Story developing; check back for updates
© T.J. Sinsay
Stars in the San Diego Skyline.
Stars in the San Diego Skyline.
San Diego County Sheriff's Department received several calls reporting something in the sky over State Route 52 at Mission Gorge in Santee.
Deputies checked the area where witnesses claimed to see something fall to the ground just before 5 a.m. They told NBC 7 there were no aircraft missing or overdue at the nearby Gillespie Field.
Heartland firefighters assisted in the search and said they are considering the reports unfounded, believing the object may have been a meteor. There are two meteor showers happening right now and visible from Southern California.
© YouTube
A meteorite passed over Arizona
A meteorite passed over Arizona
The explosion involved a fireball and a loud bang, with some residents saying their homes were shaken by the meteorite. It was captured on film by a number of people, with footage of the fireball showing it moving across the sky.
Eyewitness Tony Kubrack told CNN: "I see this tremendous, white, bright light in the western sky. And it was just ... it was absolutely enormous, I couldn't believe it."
Comment: A 'mocked up image', 'expert' claims that bear no resemblance to eyewitness reports, and a warning about meteor fireballs "attacking us in 2014".... what a strange news report.
What we've generally found to date is that the media is reluctant to acknowledge fireball meteor sightings at all, nevermind that their numbers are increasing all the time. But lately, there seems to be some prestidigitation, some sleight of hand, going on with the news around this topic, something which really jumped out at us in the above article.
Here we have a local UK news outlet uncritically accept the explanation provided by 'virtual astronomer' that this 'bright light in the sky' was a 'fireball meteor', despite the eyewitnesses all stating that the object was stationary, and that it reappeared in the same spot in the sky on successive nights... so, obviously, they were not seeing a 'fireball meteor'.
We wonder in what direction the eyewitnesses were facing, because it rather sounds like it could have been the planet Venus. Along with Sirius, Venus appears in the evening skies this time of year, making them seem brighter than usual.
So why then would a regular newspaper
- publish a story about a non-event with a 'mocked up image' that looks nothing like what eyewitnesses described, but which does look very similar to photos that have been taken of daytime fireballs streaking through the sky in recent years;
- suggest that "2014 is going to a bumper year for meteor attacks", thereby tacitly acknowledging that fireball meteor events are increasing worldwide, and - more importantly - priming people to expect a lot more fireball activity;
- quote an 'astronomer' who falsely claims that this non-event was a fireball meteor, yet who acknowledges that they're being reported worldwide;
- simultaneously mock the phenomenon by including the 'astronomer's' tweet that included 'Oh my God, we're all going to die' as a Twitter hashtag?
Why are the 'authorities' playing this silly game?We suspect that what's going on here is a combination of ignorant people seeing stuff and the authorities playing on their ignorance to confuse the issue.