'Unusual' local meteor sighting reported (3/3/16)

Wednesday night, just before 10 p.m., sky-watchers from Maine to Philadelphia — and more than a few in the Lower Hudson Valley — caught a glimpse of a fireball, a meteor, burning up to dust as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

The American Meteor Society keeps a map of public meteor sightings and, according to Operations Manager Mike Hankey, about 34 [42] reports were received from across the Northeast, including one from Dobbs Ferry and another from Ardsley.

“It seemed to burn out at a low angle above the horizon,” said Andrew Ploski, of Nyack. “My 9-year-old son and I were traveling back home last night after a visit with his grandmother in Yonkers. We were traveling north on the Sprain Brook Parkway near the Ardsley Road overpass. There appeared a large, very bright fireball with trail about the brightness and size of a car headlight. It streaked across my field of vision very quickly from my upper right to lower left — east to west.”

http://www.lohud.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/03/03/rare...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/854

Fireball Caught On Tape over Missouri on March 4th, 2016 (3/7/16)

This event has been caught on tape by Tim Zikowsky while setting up this dash cam on his way to work (at 0:10):

The American Meteor Society has received about 40 reports so far of a bright fireball on March 4th, 2016. The fireball was seen primarily from Missouri and Oklahoma but witnesses from Kansas, Arkansas, Missippi, and Texas also reported seeing this fireball. This event occurred near 10:53pm CST (04:33 on March 5th Universal Time).

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/03/fireball-caught-on-tape-over-miss...

(3/9/16)

...Between March 2nd and March 8th only, the AMS recorded 6 major fireball events over the US only:

...In the weeks around the start of spring, NASA noticed that the appearance rate of fireballs can increase by as much as 30 percent.

The American Meteor Society statistics tend to show that February is the most active month for fireballs.

...NASA has no hypothesis on this fact and only notes that “more space debris litters this section of Earth’s orbit”

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/03/its-fireball-season/

https://www.inverse.com/article/12569-nasa-s-fireball-program-will-...

NASA's Fireball Program Will Test if Asteroids Hit Earth as Randomly as We Think

We have no clear idea of whether or not any one place is more likely to get hit with extraterrestrial debris.

• Ben Guarino
• March 9, 2016

If it weren’t for NASA’s automated Fireball and Bolide Reports system, no one would have ever known about the asteroid. The rock in question broke the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in February after piercing the atmosphere with the force of 13,000 tons of TNT. It was traveling thousands of miles an hour. Had it hit a city, no one would have seen it coming.

If you give an astronomer an asteroid’s size, its angular velocity, and composition, he or she could give you a decent approximation of what would happen when the asteroid hits. Less clear is predicting where on earth impacts are most likely to occur. But there’s a good chance it’s wet. “Just over 70 percent of Earth’s surface is ocean, which means about 70 percent of the impactors will land in water,” says William Cooke, a small-object expert with the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

This is true.

As a species that wants to survive for another couple hundred thousand years, we’ve become increasingly invested in tracking the asteroids in our solar system. Not because the frozen chunks of rock are particularly interesting on their own, but because they have the potential to become either meteors (the bright fireball flashes in the sky) or meteorites (the hunk of space rock that lands on Earth). If those are big enough, of course, they become extinction-level events. NASA keeps an eye on larger asteroids in the solar system, like the “big-ass meteor” that zipped by Monday morning. But where an object is likely to land is a bit of an astronomic crapshoot.

As far as we know, impact events aren’t more likely to land at, say, the equator than a pole. “No pattern discernible, as you can see from this plot released by NASA in November of 2014,” Cooke says. “Looks pretty random.”

Compounding the problem is that meteoric events, if they occur in isolated areas, go unreported. There are a few ways to spot meteors without human eyes or sensors, like seismometers, infrasound arrays, and satellite cameras. Cooke needs compound eyes to keep watch on the whole planet. But that’s just to get data, not to wring out a conclusion about when asteroids wind up hitting water or rock. There is simply no way to know that yet.

“We are just now beginning to establish networks that don’t rely on human feedback to extract information about fireballs,” Cooke says — NASA’s fireball program relies on cameras to spot unusually bright spots around the globe, for instance — “and the coverage is nowhere near what we need.”

When the program is up and running, data collection will improve significantly and we’ll be able to install “Beware of Falling Rocks” signs at appropriate locations.

Meteor recorded by astronomy club cameras in Odessa, Ukraine and Mayaky, Ukraine on 3/9/16

https://youtu.be/96dJrqV9y2E

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/03/very-large-fireball-over-uk/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3496452/Meteor-lights-night...

A fireball has lit up the sky over Britain overnight - and has been named the St Patrick's Day meteor because it caused a green flash.
The bright bolt of light was spotted across Hampshire, Sussex, Berkshire and in London at around 3.15am.
Footage of the meteor was captured on the dashboard camera by a driver travelling through Battersea.

The UK Meteor Observation Network also picked up the flash at their Church Crookham station, near Fleet in Hampshire.
Sky at Night Presenter Pete Lawrence ‏was filming for the show and described how: 'The sky went bright blue due' and then a 'very bright green'.
James West, from near Southampton, told his local paper that that the flash was so bright it 'lit up the bedroom curtains'.
The meteor, which experts say was probably the size of a double decker bus when it crashed into the atmosphere, may have been visible as far north as Scotland.

BIG fireball over Belgium, N France, Netherlands last night!

MARCH 26 2015

https://www.facebook.com/severeweatherEU/photos/a.1423656947857402....

Severe Weather Europe
Page Liked · 54 mins

BIG fireball over Belgium, N France, Netherlands last night! Cameras of various meteor observation networks captured a very bright fireball last night at neary exactly local midnigh (23:00:45 UT). The fireball was nearly as bright as the full Moon! Did you see it?

report to: http://fireballs.imo.net/members/imo/report_intro - it is *really* easy!

Image: Astropodcast.fr - the image is symbolic

Fireball over Granada on 20 March 2016

Slow-moving fireball recorded on 20 March 2016 at 22h36m UT (23h 36m local time) over Granada [Spain].

https://youtu.be/zWk18jhEDqA

Green fireball spotted in South Florida by dozens of people (3/29/16)

The American Meteor Society said this morning that dozens of people are reporting to have spotted a bluish or green fireball over South Florida at about 6:30am.

More than 40 [at least 62] reports were made to the AMS from people who claim to have witnessed the event from Kendall to Jupiter. Nine reports came from people in Palm Beach County.

Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society, said it was a random fireball and not part of a known meteor shower.

...A report from a West Palm Beach man says the fireball cut a long trail across the sky.

“Train was glowing an iridescent or almost neon blue with white edges,” the man reported. “Looked like it was 300-500 yards behind the fireball itself but was still attached to the head of the fireball.”

http://weatherplus.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/03/29/green-fireball...

Giant fireball streaks over Spain 'turning night into day'
Published: 01 Apr 2016 http://www.thelocal.es/20160401/giant-fireball-lights-up-the-night-...
A fireball that shone ten times brighter than the moon was spotted at 4.26am on Thursday and captured on video from La Hita Observatory in Toledo.
Described as an "especially spectacular" display, the meterorite could be seen hitting the Earth’s atmosphere from Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, Murcia and Andalucia.
José María Mateido, an astrophysist on Spain’s SMART (Spectroscopy of Meteoroids in the Atmosphere by means of Robotic Technologies) project, a collaboration between Spanish observatories described the fireball as "amazing".

The Huelva university professor explained that the meteorite - rock from a comet - likely had a mass of around 30kg gave out the extraordinarily bright light when it hit Earth’s atmosphere at around 90,000km per hour.
--
Published on Mar 31, 2016
This amazing fireball turned the night into day for a fraction of a second. It was observed over Spain on 31 March 2016 at 2h36m UT (4h 36m local time). The event was produced by the impact of a cometary fragment with the atmosphere at a velocity of about 90.000 km/h.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NER_hBvVWTI

A very bright bolide captured by SONEAR meteor camera (3/31/16)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypMAFGoRb_g

SONEAR stands for Southern Observatory for Near Earth Asteroids Research and its located in Oliveira-MG, Brazil.

http://sonearobservatory.com/en/sonear-com

Chance photo captures meteor's spectacular display (4/6/16)

Starting as a ball of orange, a meteor was cutting its way through the sky over Waikanae [New Zealand], north of Wellington, turning a neon green as it went. 

Jono Matla says he couldn't believe his luck when he managed to capture this meteor on camera. He was shooting a six-image vertical panorama with a 50mm lens when, while taking the final image, the meteor cut its way across the sky.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/78601255/chance-photo-captures-mete...

VIDEO shows spectacular Meteor exploding in skies over NZ (4/6/16)

WeatherWatch.co.nz has been sent video of what appears to be the meteor last night over New Zealand.

WeatherWatcher Peter Firmin sent us this video, taken last night, showing a spectacular meteor flash across the skies in Rai Valley [New Zealand], near Nelson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3iKzQ2_abk

http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/watch-spectacular-video-meteo...

Green Fireball Seen in Sky Over Illinois, Midwest

http://patch.com/illinois/palatine/s/fpai0/green-fireball-seen-in-s...
Twitter lit up with reports of a meteor or fireball streaking across the sky and seen in in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kentucky.

Many people reported seeing a green fireball, possibly a meteor, streaking across the sky late Friday around 10:15 p.m. Central time. The fireball could be seen from the Chicago suburbs.

Reports of the sighting also were coming in from people in Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, according to WGN radio news anchor Steve Grzanich from Chicago and Fox News meteorologist Chris Higgins from St. Louis.

A Fox News webcam in Belleville, IL, near St. Louis, recorded the fireball at about 10:16 p.m.

Twitter fired up immediately with many reports of the streaking flash in the sky.

If you've spotted a meteor or bright streaking object in the sky, report the sighting to the American Meteor Society.

Watch a green meteor streak across St. Louis

http://fox2now.com/2016/04/15/watch-a-green-meteor-streak-across-st...

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) - A green meteor streaked across the St. Louis area Friday at 10:16pm. We received many reports about the shooting star.  It was seen in four states from Wisconson, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee.

Meteorologist Chris Higgins was able to find a recording of it on our Eckert's Web Camera located in Belleville, IL. The green object streaks across the screen...'

Another Fireball an hour later captured on dash cam in PLAINFIELD, Ind.

Apparent meteor lights up Hendricks County night sky

http://www.wthr.com/story/31740987/apparent-meteor-lights-up-hendri...

PLAINFIELD, Ind. - If you saw a sudden bright light overhead on the west side of Indianapolis late Friday night, you weren't alone.

Blake Brenneman was driving home in Plainfield about 11:30 p.m. Friday when he witnessed "a bright streak of light shooting across the sky for a few seconds." The one shining moment was captured by Brenneman's dash cam (see video below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h2XGPyPYR0 

"My initial fear was that it was an aircraft going down due to our proximity to the airport. The video quality does not do it justice.  It was a very bright white flash with a green-ish glow.... a pretty amazing sight," wrote Brenneman in an email to Eyewitness News. (Full disclosure: Brenneman is a WTHR employee).

Meanwhile another apparent meteor/shooting star was captured on live TV in Louisville Friday night. A reporter from WAVE-TV was live on the air and just beginning a news report when the sky lit up behind him

Fireball Lights up English Skies (Apr 20)

A giant fireball lit up the sky over southern Britain at 0200 BST as it traveled over Basingstoke in Hampshire.

Witnesses described the meteor shining with an “intense” light, which may have been bright enough to cast a shadow on the ground below.

UKMON volunteers spotted the fireball from outposts in Church Crookham, Clanfield and Basingstoke.

Stargazers also saw it from the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth, Devon.

Volunteer Peter Campbell-Burns told the Mirror that it was unusual to see such a bright meteor.

“We’re catching meteors every single night, but it’s rare we see one as bright as this,” he said.

“It’s quiet rare to see one meteor this bright. To get two in the space of about a month is even more unusual,” he added.

Last month, meteor spotters recorded video footage of a blue and green fireball as it flew over Northern Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day.

Source

https://www.rt.com/uk/340399-meteor-hampshire-photos-video/

Giant Green Fireball Over Southern California (Apr 26)

A giant green fireball streaked across the skies of Southern California Tuesday night.

It happened just after 10 p.m. and was captured on dash-cam video, which shows the streak as it gets closer to the ground.

U.S. Strategic Command said it does not believe it was a man-made object.

In a statement, the agency said the object did not appear to be a tracked satellite in their database.

That has led them to conclude the reentry of a man-made object did not occur.

Meanwhile, Dr. Krupp at the Griffith Observatory says they too have no idea what the object was at this time.

Several people called the CBS2/KCAL9 newsroom to report what they had seen.

It was visible from the Mexican border to the northern part of Ventura County.

Sources

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/04/26/footage-captures-giant-gr...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/04/fireball-over-southern-california...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/1529

Huge Fireball over Northeastern US (May 17)

AMS has received over 700 reports so far about a fireball event over Northeastern US on May 17th 2016 around 12:50am EDT (4:50 UT).

The fireball was seen primarily from Maine but witnesses from Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ontario (Canada) and Québec (Canada) also reported the event.

Sources

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/05/huge-fireball-over-northeastern-us/

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/1750

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Fireball-Streaks-Through-The-N...

That was the fall of the bolide that shook Pinamar - ARGENTINA

Wednesday May 18, 2016 | 23:58

The cameras of a local television channel recorded images.

http://tn.com.ar/sociedad/asi-fue-la-caida-del-bolido-que-hizo-temb...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&...

like a security camera lit in Villa Gesell

The first images met the fall of a foreign object in the seaside resort of Pinamar , which caused a comnoción among its inhabitants.

"He felt a tremor. Many people experienced ,

" He fell an object of heaven in Pinamar near 21.25. The tremor was felt throughout the town. We are finding out. The object would have fallen between Cariló and Villa Gesell. Many people scared, jumped amount of alarm systems , " tweeted the chief communal.

"The most important thing is that nothing happened serious. We felt a tremor and jumped alarms a lot of houses ,

Fireball Wakes Up Mexico City (May 21)

Residents in a Mexican city woke in fright before dawn on Saturday to a bright light in the sky and then a thunderous noise, fearing a nearby volcano had suddenly erupted.

But officials said Popocatepetl volcano had not stirred and no earthquake had registered.

Instead, the phenomena witnessed by the inhabitants of Puebla de Zaragoza, a city of three million people 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Mexico City, was "most likely a meteor," the local Astronomic Society tweeted.

The rock from space probably burned up in the atmosphere and no impact was detected, it explained.

"It was horrible, we thought it was the volcano, but it wasn't," said one resident, Emma Chavez.

"There was a light that shone for a couple of seconds like it was daytime and then there was tremendous thunder."

Another resident, Alvaro Morales, said: "It was really strong. Windows were shaking. We thought it was an earthquake, but it wasn't. There was a sound like an explosion. We were truly terrified."

Sources

http://www.focus-fen.net/news/2016/05/22/407183/mysterious-roar-and...

http://www.vallartadaily.com/news/mexico/meteor-mexico-city/

Caribbean Fireball: Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico (5/27/16)

"This fireball was captured by my Watec 902H camera on May 25, 2016 at 12:35am local time. It was located just south of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico in the sky above the Caribbean Sea."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNYTvQkUJM

Massive Fireball over Southwest U.S. (Jun 2)

The AMS has received over 300 reports so far about a fireball event over Arizona on June 2nd 2016 around 03:57am MST EDT (10:57 UT). The fireball was seen primarily from Arizona but witnesses from Utah, New Mexico, California, Texas and Nevada also reported the event.

Residents also reported hearing a loud boom and a colorful trail of smoke that was visible well past sunrise.

Sources

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/1882

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/06/bright-fireball-over-arizona/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/flash-light-thought-meteor...

Update on the June 2 'fireball':

NASA: Fireball in Arizona Sky was 10 foot, 20-ton Asteroid!

The flash itself was so bright, it briefly turned night into day. Marsha Adams sends these before, during, and after shots from Sedona, Arizona. "The camera was facing NE so it did not record the asteroid itself," says Adams. "However, the flash cast very distinct shadows, and landscape colors were vivid."

Early this morning, June 2nd just before 4 a.m. MST, a small asteroid hit Earth's atmosphere and exploded over Arizona. "There was a bright flash and the ground shook from the explosion," reports Chris Schur of Payson AZ, who says the flash of light was about 10x brighter than a full Moon. The explosion actually blinded a NASA camera located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona

NASA later said it blinded all-sky meteor cameras as far away as New Mexico.

"That is a hefty piece of material coming in," said Dr. Ed Krupp of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. "This falls into the category of a near-miss, if a 7-foot rock fell into a major city, you're not going to destroy the city but you're going to do some major damage."

It was last spotted heading south over the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. NASA believes there is meteorite debris scattered on the ground just north of Tucson, Arizona.

Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office says this is the brightest fireball detected in the 8-year history of the NASA's All Sky Fireball Network, an array of cameras that monitors fireball activity across the USA.

According to NASA analysts, the asteroid was ~10 feet (3 meters) in diameter with a mass in the tens of tons and a kinetic energy of approximately 10 kilotons.

Eyewitness reports placed the object at an altitude of 57 miles above the Tonto National Forest east of the town of Payson, moving almost due south. It was last seen at an altitude of 22 miles above that same forest.

"There are no reports of any damage or injuries—just a lot of light and few sonic booms," says Cooke. "If Doppler radar is any indication, there are almost certainly meteorites scattered on the ground north of Tucson."

An Arizona Geological Survey report picked up an impact near Payson, and officials believe that was the point of the asteroid's detonation.

For The Record

"According to Josh Bangle, communications manager at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, the object could have been man-made space debris. Bangle said his best estimate says it was a meteor or Space Junk around the size of a baseball and do not think any of their telescopes has captured the space debris." Source

Sources

http://news3lv.com/news/local/bright-light-seen-over-nevada-and-nei...

http://spaceweather.com/archive.php

http://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/

http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/meteor-arizona-asteroid-fireball/201...

Daytime Fireball Over Midwestern USA (Jun 6)

AMS has received nearly 150 reports so far of a rare daylight fireball event over the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana on Monday June 6th 2016 around 11:41am CDT (16:41 UT). The preliminary trajectory seems to have placed this event over northeastern Missouri.

Sources

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/06/daylight-fireball-over-midwestern...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sight-in-midwest-sky-amazes-many-descri...

https://www.sott.net/article/319866-Meteor-fireball-streaks-over-ce...

Meteor fireball over central Poland, 7 June 2016

(Translated by Sott.net) 

According to the Polish Fireball Network (PKIM), a very bright meteor fireball brightened the sky over central Poland at 10:47pm on Tuesday night. 

According to preliminary data, the event started at the altitude of 84 km and finished 43 km above the ground. Initial speed was 18 km/s. After 2.38 seconds, the fireball burned out and was no longer visible. 

Comment: Meteor fireball events over Poland in the last few years: 

1 Dec 2015 - Meteor fireball filmed over Poland 
1 Nov 2015 - Fireball over Poland captured on video 
9 Dec 2014 - Bright green fireball breaks up over southern Poland 
20 June 2013 - Huge green fireball with red tail blazes over central Poland 
18 Apr 2013 - A very bright fireball over southern Poland 
11 Mar 2013 - Second fireball blazes over Poland in four days 
4 Mar 2013 - Bright green fireball explodes over Poland, resulting in shockwave ... 
29 Nov 2012 - Spectacular blue-green fireball fragments over Hungary and Poland 
19 Oct 2012 - Spectacular fireball lights up night sky over Poland 
19 July 2011 - Bright fireball over Poland

A pair of Daytime Fireballs last few days.

1) What was that bright streak in the sky this morning over Western Washington?

Note:: Fireball only visible between 0:52 and 0:58 in the above video.

SEATTLE -- We've been getting messages from viewers across Western Washington all morning asking what was that flash in the sky? http://q13fox.com/2016/06/10/meteor-fireball-what-was-that-bright-s...

AMS took in reports from across the Northwest region, from Sooke, British Columbia all the way down to Roseberg, Oregon of a fireball in the sky started coming in around 4:30 a.m.

Q13 Meteorologist Rebecca Stevenson called the National Weather Service and verified that there was no lightning in Western Washington early Friday. The NWS said the nearest lightning strikes were in British Columbia over Vancouver Island.

"I saw it at 4:35 this morning. It came angling down right over Hwy 410 in Sumner 'til it got over the trees," said Q13 viewer Janine.

"I saw a bright light a bit to the right. It was a fireball that went from my right to left... at about a 45 degree angle of flight down. It was spotted at about 30-40 degrees above the horizon, was blueish-green, with a very bright yellow ball. The tail was mainly sparks, with a "halo" around the ball itself. It lasted a little more than one second," wrote Q13 viewer Paul.

http://mynorthwest.com/314324/meteor-lights-up-northwest-sky-early-...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And  over Georgia Wednesday June 8th 2016

Daytime Fireball over Georgia http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/06/daytime-fireball-over-georgia/

The AMS has received few reports (6 so far) of a rare daylight fireball event over Georgia on Wednesday June 8th 2016 around 07:45am EDT (11:43 UT). The preliminary trajectory seems to have placed this event between Roswell, GA and Alpharetta, GA.

If you witnessed this event please fill an official fireball report.
If you have a video or a photo of this event please contact us.

If you want to learn more about Fireballs: read our Fireball FAQ.

Below is a video caught from a Dash cam and shared with the AMS by DJ Browney Jr:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC0LDM4YNGA

Large Fireball Over Northeastern U.S. & Canada (Jun 14)

AMS has received over 150 reports of a large fireball over the northeastern U.S. and Canada.

Witness accounts:

"I am 60 years old and I walk a lot at night so have seen my fair share of meteors. This one lasted longer than any other I have seen and so we were able to see more detail than usual."

"I was with a companion, and both of us expressed moments of wondering if an airplane or satellite were going down, since this was quite a large and bright object."

Reports were received from NH, NY, PA, Ontario, VT, MA, ME, Québec, NJ, MD and RI.

Sources

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/2083

https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/4o4z1x/odd_question_did_...

Bright Fireball Over Nova Scotia (Jun 23)

Numerous people reported a bright light in the skies over Nova Scotia just before 10 p.m. on Thursday.

“I looked out my window, and there was this huge meteor going across the sky. It was the biggest one I’d ever seen,” said West Chezzetcook resident Scott Wolfe.

He spotted it around 9:30 p.m. and raced from one window to another to get the best view.

“We got a great panoramic-type view (of it) across the Chezzetcook Harbour,” he said.

“It definitely stuck around a while. I saw it for 10 or 15 seconds across the sky.”

He said it was a sight to see.

“There were pieces falling behind the thing. They would break off and stay bright in the air,” he said.

“It was pretty cool . . . I’d never really seen anything like it.”

Sources

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/fireball-meteor-halifax-n...

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1375157-bright-meteor-races...

Panic as explosions rock Argentinian city - but relief as experts realise what to blame: a huge 1,500mph meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere!

By STEVEN FLETCHER FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 04:39 EST, 23 July 2016 | UPDATED: 08:38 EST, 23 July 2016

Residents of a city in southern Argentina got a scare when a series of powerful explosions shook homes and buildings, but the cause turned out to be a natural wonder: a meteor disintegrating overhead.

It was an ordinary Wednesday afternoon in General Roca, a city of 85,000 people, when suddenly a series of loud blasts caused buildings to shake and windows to rattle.

"Everything trembled," said Martin Soria, the local mayor.

Police, firefighters and emergency workers rushed to the scene, but found no evidence of a bomb, earthquake or calamity.

Unusually Large Fireball Explodes Over Wyoming (Aug 1)

A very bright fireball exploded in the sky over Wyoming just before 3:30 a.m. and could be seen as far away as Denver according to witnesses who spoke to researchers at the Cloudbait Observatory in Guffey, Colorado.

“By combining the data from both cameras, I can determine that the fireball exploded over Cheyenne, Wyo., at a height of 105 km (roughly 65 miles),” said Chris Peterson with Cloudbait Observatory.

Peterson describes the meteor as being unusually large with a brightness similar to the full Moon and having a large breakup in mid-flight, leaving enough material to continue burning afterward.

“Usually explosions like this are terminal, completely disrupting the body and leaving nothing to continue,” said Peterson.

The American Meteor Society has so far received 17 reports of this event.

Sources

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/meteor-explodes-ove...

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/08/02/witnesses-needed-after-unusua...

http://www.cloudbait.com/meteor/data.php?recnum=73620

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/2700

Mysterious fireballs seen streaking across San Diego sky

SAN DIEGO – Numerous sightings of fireballs with streaking vapor tails were seen propagating together across the night sky shortly after 9:30 p.m. Monday.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2016/08/16/mysterious-fireballs-seen-streak...

U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego logged multiple incidents over metro San Diego and San Clemente Island, with additional sightings as far North as Los Angeles.

Preliminary reports suggest that the phenomenon possibly resembled characteristics of the recent Perseid meteor shower. 

According to the U.S. Navy’s 3rd Fleet Public Information Officer Lt. Holland, the USS Makin Island group is currently training in the area.  However, no “live fire” exercises were ongoing at the time of the reports.  Additionally the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group was not present in the areas where the sightings were reported.   Lt. Holland noted that “No Navy helicopters were deployed to intercept the group of fireballs that were seen.”

The fireballs caught on dashcam video seem to propagate together at a much slower speed and lower elevation compared to where meteors are typically seen.  The mysterious fireballs were moving markedly slower than the Perseid meteors, which fall to earth at nearly 130,000 mph, but typically burn-up in the upper  atmosphere, 60 miles above the earth’s surface.

~

Fireball over San Diego 8/15/16, 

Published on Aug 15, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Q2WBGpKjQ

Second fireball in last 4 days, seen over San Diego. 

Southern California 'gets to wish upon a star' as mysterious streaks of light flash across starry night sky
-Local television captures footage of teal blue 'fireball', stopping traffic in San Diego
-National Weather Service could not confirm what it was, but astronomer says it was probably a meteor
-Earlier this month, similar flashes of light described as 'exploding stars' were seen throughout the region
-Last week was peak activity for the Perseid meteor shower

Residents of Southern California were awed by mysterious streaks of light across the starry night sky, and experts can't confirm what it is.
On Thursday, the local television station 10News posted a video shot by a camera affixed to the dashboard of a moving car in San Diego.
The clip shows what appears to be a fast-moving light teal blue 'fireball' that peters out over the horizon at around 8:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service was unable to offer up an explanation for the sighting, according to Denver7..."

https://www.facebook.com/ABC10News/videos/1200267890015691/

Sources and full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3749543/Southern-California...

http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/2016/08/ontario-canada-fi...

30 August 2016

Bright Fireball Over Pacific Northwest (Sep 2)

Many people throughout the Pacific Northwest reported seeing a "fireball" blazing through the sky at around midnight Friday.

According to the American Meteor Society, more than 130 people reported seeing the light shoot across the sky.

A majority of the reports came from the Willamette Valley and Oregon Coast and the object was visible from as far north as Port Angeles, Wash. to south from Medford.

Most of the reports described the fireball slow moving, bright, blue in color, debris, and long tail.

"I haven't every seen anything like this. It was a shooting fireball," a person reported from Portland.

As of Saturday, there has been no official word on what the fireball was.

Sources

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/fireball-reported-blazing-across-paci...

http://katu.com/news/local/over-130-reports-of-bright-fireball-frid...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/3216

https://www.facebook.com/katunews/videos/vb.180526851447/1015392892...

Bright Fireball Over Eastern U.S. (Sep 8)

A bright fireball streaked over the eastern U.S. Thursday evening.

The fireball was seen from New Jersey to South Carolina.

David Livingston said he was stopped at an intersection around 6 p.m. when he saw a bright light in the southwest sky.

“It was very bright and green and possibly made it all the way to the ground,” Livingston said.

Rhonda Sams also saw something she believed was a meteor.

“My husband, son, and I were looking south toward Cumberland County and Route 60. It could have actually fell in Amelia County,” Sams wrote. “Don’t know what it was but it was bright and burning.”

K. Learning said she was driving on I-95 south near the Doswell exit around 6 p.m. when she saw something bright in the sky.

“There was what looked like a ball of fire seen going at a rapid speed,” Learning said. “The direction it was seen going was southwest.”

Christy Dalton was driving on Route 288 when she reported seeing something “fall out of the sky.”

‎Brian Hobbs‎ also reported seeing the bright light.

“There was a long smoke trail left behind that dissipated very slowly,” Hobbs‎ wrote.

Sources

http://wtvr.com/2016/09/08/fireballs-meteor-spotted-over-virginia/

http://www.13newsnow.com/weather/fireball-streaks-across-the-sky-in...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/3320

Fireball Explodes Over Cypress (Sep 9)

A bright fireball exploded over Cyprus on Friday just before dawn.

Residents of several villages in the Troodos mountain range saw the object in the sky, heard a deafening sound and felt the earth shake for miles around after its fall, according to local newspaper Cyprus Mail.

"It wouldn't have weighed any more than a few kilos," Ioannis Fakas, the honorary chairman of the Cyprus astronomical society, told the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. "When it crossed Cyprus it exploded."

According to the specialist, it had a 45 degree tilt, and a bang could be heard as the meteorite passed over Cyprus. Meteorite fragments could have fallen into the sea to the north of Cyprus, Fakas added.

Sources

https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160909/1045143734/cyprus-meteorite...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/09/world/europe/ap-eu-cypru...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/3398

AMS received 50 reports about a fireball seen over ME, NY, MA, NJ, CT, RI, PA and NH on Tuesday, September 13th 2016 around 01:14 UT.

The AMS has received over 125 reports so far about of a fireball event over seen over Montréal, CA on September 21st, 2016 around 9:35pm EDT (Sept 22nd, 1:35 UT). The fireball was seen primarily from Québec but witnesses from Ontario, New Brunswick, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire also reported the event.

Sources:

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/09/fireball-over-montreal/

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/3524

Large Fireball Over UK, France and Netherlands (Sep 23)

A huge fireball shot across the sky late Friday night, shocking residents in the UK and visible as far east as Germany and as far south as France.

The flash of light was caught on camera at 11.34pm in Ash Vale, Surrey, by the UK Meteor Observation Network.

AMS received over 100 reports of this event:

"I love astronomy and I have seen bright meteorites in the past but this is by far the brightest and longest I have ever seen."

Sources

http://www.kentlive.news/did-you-spot-this-huge-fireball-as-it-shot...

http://strangesounds.org/2016/09/large-fireball-uk-video-picture.htm

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/3555l

Massive Fireball Rocks Queensland Australia (Sep 26)

Hundreds of central Queenslanders reported witnessing a bright light streaking across the sky followed by a loud explosion about 8.30 last night, in what experts believe may have been either a meteor strike or a “near earth asteroid.”

Residents near Gladstone reported seeing the fireball, described by some as a “mini sun” arcing overhead towards the horizon, lighting up the entire sky.

The sighting was followed by a loud “sonic boom,” indicating an overhead explosion.

Experts say a meteor – which has a burning hot exterior as it travels through Earth’s atmosphere, but an icy interior – likely exploded when the extreme temperatures interacted and became volatile.

Police received multiple calls from concerned residents, who reported their homes and windows shaking.

Geosciences Australia confirmed a “tremor” shook the Gladstone area about 8.30, which was not caused by an earthquake.

Queensland Police tweeted that they “don’t know anything about a meteor shower,” but may be able to consult some ‘experts.’ 

No damage, craters or impact spots have yet been found, leaving some to speculate the meteor crashed somewhere offshore.

Higgins Storm Chasing crew said on Facebook, “A bright flash or light has been reported by hundreds of people, this light was seen as far south as Hervey Bay and as far north as Yepoon with a tremor being felt upon impact over the general Gladstone area and Boyne Island.”

Social media also lit up with stories of sightings.

“Definitely saw a bright flash like a shooting star, then it flashed out high in the sky a bit to the North,” user Mike said of his sighting near Kin Kora, south of Gladstone.

“As it started I thought lightning, then realized it was probably a meteor. Took at least 2 minutes for the sound to arrive.” 

Sources

http://tenplay.com.au/news/national/september/meteor-strike-likely-...

https://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=dgZ2ecJwScR7yYMcn7hxf958Cqca...

Bright Fireball Explodes Over Washington & Idaho (Sep 29) 

Tiffany Hansen snapped a picture on Thursday morning of a bright meteor falling to Earth.

On her own Facebook page, Hansen posted "Luck, serendipity, chance...call it what you want. It all comes to being in the right place at the right time. Meteor captured over Post Falls, Idaho."

Other viewers reached out to us, saying they saw a green flash and heard a loud boom in the Bonner County area.

The National Weather Service said there is some scientific certainty that the loud bang and flash of light was a meteorite.

Source

http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/kxly-4-viewer-snaps-photo-of-...

Huge Green Fireball Over Southern Italy (Oct 1)

A bright fireball impressed thousands of people in Southern Italy just after sunset at around 7:00pm local time.

The greenish ball of flame was seen in Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily, heading south / east, the Ionian Sea, and also in the lower Tyrrhenian.

Source

http://www.meteoweb.eu/2016/10/enorme-palla-fuoco-verdastra-sul/756...
(Translation by Google)

Bright Fireball Explodes over Northeast U.S. (Oct 4)

People from Maryland to Québec may have seen an unusually large and loud fireball in the sky. The American Meteor Society received 510 reports of a fireball with a sonic boom. The fireball was likely an asteroid.

http://www.phillyvoice.com/fireball-lights-night-sky-over-pennsylva...

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/10/fireball-over-eastern-great-lakes/

In Toronto, police and fire services received multiple calls about a plane crashing into the Toronto Harbor, TheStar.com of Toronto reported:

"I'm in South Jersey and I saw it. It was gigantic. I was wondering how far people could see it. I've been trying to figure out what it was."

Another Reddit user, admissessibilicable, wrote: "I did! Looked like a huge green flame over West Philly."

And kierzandax noticed it, too: "Saw it while driving home on the AC Expressway. Awesome sight."

Severe Weather Europe shared International Meteor Organization's post.

Also a *BIG* fireball over Algeria yesterday - October 2, 18:50 UTC! Likely visible from the Iberian peninsula, France, Corsica, Italy, Sardinia, Malta and Tunisia. We are looking for eyewitnesses! Did you see it? Do report!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKcwYJANOH4

--------------------------------------------------------
Severe Weather Europe shared International Meteor Organization's photo.

Pretty impressive fireball over the north Adriatic region last night - was likely visible from Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Did you see it?

https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMeteorOrganization/photos/a.3... OCTOBER 4 2016

http://meteore.forumattivo.com/t4513-fireball-2016-10-04_19-49-34-1...

--------------------------------------------
https://www.facebook.com/lameilleureinfometeo/photos/a.344721230251... OCTOBER 5 2016

witnesses in oise and the yvelines indicate having seen towards 5 h25 a ball green light in the sky: have you observed? # FRANCE

https://www.facebook.com/lameilleureinfometeo/photos/p.101575877508...

The Weather Channel HERE is our meteorite, photographed in England at 5:14 this morning by the surveillance cameras

http://www.nola.com/weather/index.ssf/2016/10/fireball_over_lake_po... 

Morning 'fireball' seen over Lake Pontchartrain was a meteor

Early morning risers from Louisiana to Kentucky and beyond reported what some describe as a greenish streak or fireball in the sky Wednesday (Oct. 12), the National Weather Service in Slidell said. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Officesaid it received multiple reports around 7 a.m. about a possible meteorite overLake Pontchartrain.

"People called reporting a strange green streak shoot across the sky. There was no indication or evidence to that suggests it was a flare and we have no distress calls in the lake," the Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. "This was even observed by some law enforcement officers as well. Very strange."

Meteors, commonly called shooting stars, are visible as streaks of lights caused when a meteoroid burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.

"Yes, it was a fireball meteor," said Mike Hankey with the American Meteor Society, a nonprofit that tracks and monitors meteor events.

NASA's Meteor Watch said the bright green fireball was first reported 65 miles above Sawyersville, Ala., and moving northwest at about 89,000 miles per hour. It appears to have fragmented 41 miles above Louisville, Miss., according to a Meteor Watch Facebook post.

The agency's sky cameras in the region had been turned off to protect them from the sun's glare, so the trajectory analysis is based on eyewitness reports, NASA said. Based on its brightness, the object was estimated to weigh about 5 pounds and be 5 inches around.

"Given the high uncertainty in the visual reports, a reliable orbit cannot be computed, so the source of this object remains a mystery at this time. However, we can definitely say it was a natural object (meteor) and was not associated with the Orionid meteor shower," NASA said.

Hankey described the fireball meteor as rare because of its daytime appearance. "These are sporadic events but happen somewhere over the Earth every day," he said. "This was rarer than most as it was seen early in the morning. Also several reports of big smoke cloud left behind."

He said his organization hadn't received video or pictures, but that he's hopeful.

• Did you see it? If you have pictures or a video, share them with us in the comment section below.

Here's the tweet from the National Weather Service, with links to a map of sightings:

And another:

http://www.wtva.com/news/People_report_seeing_fireball_in_sky.html

UPDATE: Meteor breaks apart over Louisville

By Zac Carlisle Oct. 12, 2016

TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - Many people in North Mississippi and Alabama reported seeing a bright "fireball" in the sky this morning.

Most reported seeing it sometime near 7 a.m.

"I just saw a big something streak through the sky about 5-10 minutes ago! Bright, white, BIG," said Shala Weaver.

According to Bill Cooke with NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama, the "fireball" was a meteor moving 89,000 miles per hour.

It appears to have fragmented 41 miles above Louisville, Miss.

"Estimates of the brightness indicate that the object weighed about 5 pounds and was roughly 5 inches in diameter."

And another:

http://www.wapt.com/article/fireball-sightings-reported-in-mississi...

NASA explains what that bright fireball was in the Mississippi sky

Meteor society says fireball reports span from Georgia to Texas

Updated: 2:19 PM CDT Oct 12, 2016

Reports are coming in from across the southeast of people seeing fireballs flying through the sky.

Jay Bird, a 16 WAPT viewer from Madison, said about 7 a.m. Wednesday, he saw a long, white line of light and then heard an explosion with a faint boom.

“It had a fluorescent blue cloud that stuck around for about five minutes,” Bird said in an email.

According to the American Meteor Society, close to 200 people have reported seeing a fireball around the same time as Bird. The reports span from eastern Georgia to east Texas.

NASA said it received morethan 100 reports from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. Unfortunately, NASA said its cameras were turned off when the event happened. 

"All sky cameras in the region had already shut downto protect themselves from the bright Sun, forcing us to rely solely onthe eyewitness reports for trajectory analysis,"NASA spokeswoman Karen Northon told WDSU -- 16 WAPT's sister station in New Orleans.

The object was a meteor, NASA said. It was first seen 65miles above Sawyersville, Alabama and moved west at about 89,000 mph.

"It appears to have fragmented 41 miles aboveLouisville, Mississippi," NASA said. "Estimates of thebrightness indicate that the object weighed about 5 pounds and was roughly5 inches in diameter."

Because of no photos or video, NASA said that a reliable orbit can't be determined, which means the source of the object is a "mystery."

What NASA can say, though, is that it was a natural meteor. However, it wasn't part of the Orionid meteor shower. 

Fireball Over Southern Ontario (Oct 17)

A bright fireball streaked over Ottawa Monday, captivating those awake early enough to witness it.

"It was like standing on Parliament Hill and watching the fireworks. That's how close it was," according to resident Mary Dallimore.

Source

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/possible-meteor-monday-morning...

Flying ball of fire seen across central Israel

Published: 24.10.16 , 22:17

Israelis were shocked to see a giant ball of fire with a large white contrail over central Israel on Monday;

Citizens across central Israel reported seeing a ball of fire streak across the sky.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4869634,00.html VIDEO

Fireball above central Israel (Photo: Dana Rokach)

A witness told Ynet "I saw a giant orange light – something which looked like a giant missile or a meteor. It was far away and didn't look like a plane. Also, it looked like the ball of fire was falling out of the sky. It was strange, and I have no idea what it could have been.

Fireball Over Denver Colorado (Oct 28)

Source

Fireball Over Northern Japan (Oct 31)

A fireball was seen hurtling across the sky off the coast of northern Japan early Monday morning.

The fiery, greenish object shot across the sky for 15 seconds before vanishing to the northeast.

Source

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/33524262/fireball-over-japan-caught-on-v...

Fireball Over Northeast U.S. (Nov 1)

AMS has received over 270 reports so far about of a fireball event over Pennsylvania on November 1st, 2016 around 08:15pm EDT.

The fireball was seen primarily from Pennsylvania but witnesses from Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, Massachusetts, Delaware and Ontario (Canada) also reported the event.

Sources

http://www.amsmeteors.org/2016/11/fireball-over-pennsylvania/

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/4239

Huge Fireball Over Italy (Oct 30)

A massive fireball with a luminous trail soared over Italy this afternoon, just before 7pm.

Thousands of sightings were reported, particularly from central and northern regions.

From the descriptions, it was a fireball that left a reddish and green trail.

According to resident Busto Arsizio, "I was in the garden of my house with other people, and the only thing I can tell you is that a bright green ball has crossed the sky. Never seen something like that I have no idea what might have been."

The reports have come mostly from Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany.

Many have also called the fire department a little worried.

Sources (translation by Google)

http://www.inmeteo.net/blog/2016/10/30/enorme-bolide-solca-cieli-it...

http://www.meteogiuliacci.it/meteo/articoli/cronaca/bolide-luminoso...