Florida: Fireball lights up sky in Melbourne
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Over the weekend, residents of Florida were lucky enough to spot a major meteor. The fireball streaked through the night’s sky, leaving a bright tail as it did so. Security cameras captured footage of the fireball, which shows night briefly turning to day as the meteor shot through.
More than 100 people flocked to the International Meteor Organisation (IMO) to report their sighting.
So powerful was the blast that some people feared a plane was crashing.
Rick told the IMO: “It was the brightest fireball/shooting star I’ve ever seen.
“I thought it could have been a plane crashing but it was bigger and brighter. It got close to the horizon but my view was impeded by another building.”
Marissa said: “The train was very long, bright, and straight. It did not start or end with any bright explosion from what I remember, but just fizzled out at the end.
“At first I couldn’t tell if it was some kind of plane or piece of spacecraft falling from the sky, but then it just fizzled out, so that’s when I realized it was a shooting star or something.”
Harlie added: “It was an incredibly bright and long sighting, one I’ve never seen before.
“It lit up the entire sky, making me feel as though the sun might have just come out for a brief moment to say hello. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.”
Sophia stated: “I could not see where it ended because of trees and buildings.
“I’ve never seen something so big and green and bright in the sky before. It was a big green light arcing across the sky with a bright white tail.”
Sean added: “It seemed very close to the ground. Not as high as I’d expect.”
Thankfully, the meteor did not make land and the explosion can be attributed to a small meteor hitting the atmosphere.
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Meteors can produce such an intense burst of light, as air – which they had not encountered before they hit Earth’s atmosphere – gets into the pores of the rocks, forcing them to explode.
The IMO said: “Fireballs are meteors that appear brighter than normal.
“Due to the velocity at which they strike the Earth’s atmosphere, fragments larger than one millimetre have the capability to produce a bright flash as they streak through the heavens above.
“These bright meteors are what we call fireballs and they often strike fear and awe for those who witness them.”
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