A meteorite struck the atmosphere over the northeastern United States that some have described as the most amazing thing they have “ever seen”. The fireball has been seen in six different states, including Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, as well as the Canadian city of Toronto, demonstrating just how bright the meteorite is.
Cameras captured this phenomenon, showing a huge blue stream radiating across the night sky.
Dozens of people flocked to the International Meteorite Organization (IMO) to report the sighting, with some worried about a nuclear strike.
“The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” Kim told the International Maritime Organization.
Adam said, “It was so fast, I honestly waited halfway for an explosion. I thought for a second it was a nuclear strike!”
Mizan added, “I couldn’t believe what I saw. It felt like fireworks on the fourth of July for a split second. Really cool.”
Miles said, “It was cool! I was walking out of my door and saw the flash.
“Even though it was a firecracker, it was very loud and very lively. There was no sound either.”
Fireballs are a fairly harmless phenomenon that occurs when a space rock, usually around a meteorite in size, strikes the atmosphere.
These rocks were rolling around space without resistance to the air, and once it encounters the atmosphere, air seeps into its pores, causing it to diverge, causing a bright explosion.
The International Maritime Organization said: “Fireballs are meteors that appear brighter than usual.
“Given the speed with which they strike the Earth’s atmosphere, fragments larger than one millimeter have the potential to produce a bright flash as they travel across the sky above.
“These bright meteors are what we call fireballs and often they inspire fear and dread for those who see them.”
However, sometimes a large rock makes its way to Earth – as evidenced by the Chelyabinsk meteorite strike.
A space rock 20 meters high hit the Earth’s atmosphere over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, causing an explosion like this one that shattered windows across the city and injured more than 1,000 people.
