Fireballs
Residents of California were stunned when a bright fireball boomed above them, producing stunning green colours. The meteor hit Earth's atmosphere on Sunday, September 6, above California, with dozens reporting the sighting.
Some Californians claimed it to be the best meteor sighting they had ever seen, while others were stunned by how close it seemingly came to ground.
Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA) Yusuf Sani disclosed this to DAILY POST.
He said those affected were mostly children as a result of a collapsed building caused by heavy rainfall .
DAILY POST reported that sixteen people lost their lives while thousands of houses and farmlands were destroyed as a result of a heavy downpour last week.
Yusuf explained that the flood displaced over 50,000 families, and thousands of farmlands were also submerged.
The event was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, which is being conducted by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN). The event was spotted from the meteor-observing stations located at La Hita (Toledo), La Sagra (Granada), and Seville.
"Almost always in classical times comets were regarded as portents, generally as warnings of dire events," writes historian Duane Koenig. (They were also sometimes "harbingers of happy things," like the birth of heroes, prophets, or kings.)
Ancient records show that thousands of years ago, "Persians and Koreans viewed comets as of evil nature and often [announced] war with the country in whose direction the tail pointed," writes Koenig. Over in Rome, comets were an object of fear and worship. Historian Geraldine Herbert-Brown finds that Pliny the Elder paid "particular attention to comets, and the terror they had caused humans in the course of history." According to Pliny, a comet would appear at "crucial intervals" starting in 49 BCE, "glaring terribly when Nero succeeded Claudius, and then continuously throughout Nero's principáte."
Comets — also called "bearded stars" — were consistently seen as bad news for rulers. Around 70 CE, the Roman emperor Vespasian was cautioned about a comet. "He contended the bearded star did not concern him because he was bald. It threatened his neighbor, the king of the Parthians, who was hairy," writes Koenig.
Mark Ferguson was presenting the 6pm bulletin when a meteor was visible in the live feed of Sydney's skyline in the background.
Some eagle-eyed viewers noticed the object and posted about it on a Facebook group dedicated to meteor sightings.
Ferguson called into Sunrise this morning and spoke about the incident, telling the breakfast show hosts: "I didn't know too much at the exact time but within a few seconds of throwing to the commercial, Jess our cameraman quickly said, 'Mate, something has just flown behind you. I reckon it's a meteor.'
"We replayed it and had a good look and we couldn't believe it; what a shock!" Ferguson said.
The event was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, which is being conducted by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN). The event was spotted from the meteor-observing stations located at Sevilla, La Sagra (Granada), La Hita (Toledo), and Calar Alto.

Locals said hundreds of pieces of the 4.6billion-year-old rock fell 'like rain' from the sky
Residents of a remote town in northeastern Brazil called Santa Filomena recently received an unexpected bonanza when chunks of a meteorite believed to be 4.6 billion-year-old started falling "like rain" from the sky on 19 August, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the newspaper, the meteorite was a "rare chondrite which dates back to the origins of the Solar System", and whose fragments turned out to be quite valuable, with the biggest chunk, weighing about 40 kilograms, being worth over £20,000 ($26,000) - "the same as 10 years' worth of the average salary in the area".
"The price is getting close to 40 reals (£5.50) per gramme, and it's getting higher. Only a few days ago it was half that", said Edimar da Costa Rodrigues, a 20-year old student who discovered one of the fragments. "Ninety percent of the town's population are farmers. There aren't many shops, nothing that generates jobs. It's a humble place, with people on a low wage. Most people think it's a really good thing. Lots of people have found a rock, and it has come at a time when many really need some money to pay the bills".
Comment: Other reported meteor impacts so far this year include:
- Another meteorite-like object falls from sky in Rajasthan, India (June 2020)
- Investigators confirm meteorite discovery in El Empalme, Ecuador (April 2020)
- Massive explosion leaves giant crater in Akure, Nigeria, dozens of buildings damaged - UPDATE: Expert suspects METEOR IMPACT (March 2020)
- Three fiery meteorites reportedly hit ground in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India (March 2020)
- Meteorite hit a factory compound in Alwar, Rajasthan, India (February 2020)
Dozens of people said they heard what sounded like an "explosion" in the early hours of this morning, around 1am.
Kirkby resident Lesley Parr told the Echo her social media was full of people talking about the "total mystery", with many left scratching their heads as to what the sound was.
She said: "It was heard all over Kirkby, Fazakerley, Huyton, Stockbridge Village, Knowsley Village etc.
"I'm off Ribblers Lane, we saw flashing blue lights in the close next to us so my nosy boys took a walk over with the dog.
Chris said: "It came straight down on a vertical trajectory and slowed down as it approached the tops of the tree line, very bright green with bright white sparks coming off it. Amazing sighting!
Timothy added: "It was so bright that we could see it from inside the house with all the lights on.
"It lasted long enough to alert another person to turn around and look at it and they saw it for several seconds."
To kick things off on Monday, not one but two space rocks over 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter will fly past, both of which were detected just this month, leaving little time and space for error in calculating their trajectories.
Asteroid 2020 PP3, 34 meters wide, will pass us by at a distance of 6.1 million kilometers (3.7 million miles), having only been spotted 13 days ago. It will be followed shortly afterwards by 2020 PJ6, 26 meters wide, at a distance of 5.3 million kilometers, which was spotted four days later on August 15.
Comment: AllAfrica reported on the same date: