Meteor video: Dramatic dashcam fireball footage shows space rock hurtle above Alberta

People in parts of Ontario and western New York witnessed a similar sight during Labor Day which was reportedly accompanied by a loud boom. Both events were likely the consequence of a meteor incinerating as it hurtled into Earth’s atmosphere, creating a sonic boom. The Saturday night fireball was captured on a car’s dashcam outside Edmonton at 10.30pm local time.

More than 175 people from Alberta reported seeing the fireball to the American Meteor Society.

Fewer people reported the New York fireball, which occurred at around 5pm ET, but it made an impression on those who experienced it.

One eyewitness reported: “This bright, fast streak in the late afternoon appeared against a brilliant blue sky and after sparkling with a flash of rainbow colours, disappeared behind a fluffy white cloud.”

Twitter user Tmayne334 added: “I was in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania and saw it here.

“Huge white light that streaked across the sky and faded into nothing but a dot the size of a needle. It was amazing, especially seeing it in broad daylight.”

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Others reported hearing the fireball but not seeing it, with local media receiving reports of a sudden, unexplained boom.

The American Meteor Society believes it was most likely a fireball, created when a small meteor hits Earth’s atmosphere and burns up.

Bill Cooke, of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, said: “Based on the data available at this time, I would say that the sonic boom heard was caused by a fireball.

NASA defines fireballs as “meteors brighter than the planet Venus.”

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US agency NASA uses 17 cameras in its All Sky Fireball Network to photograph fireballs.

The nearest camera to Upstate New York is based in northeastern Ohio.

Unfortunately, Monday’s fireball was not caught on camera, because the cameras are turned-off during the day to protect them from sunlight damage.

Meteors incinerate in Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis, creating iridescent fireballs several times a month.

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The majority of space rock or dust is completely consumed by the friction of colliding with our atmosphere.

It is far rarer for a meteorite to survive the friction until the surface, and almost unheard of for a space rock to do much damage when they do make it.

The most famous case of a bolide was one that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Siberia in 2013.

This was a house-sized asteroid that went undetected until its collision with our atmosphere sent out shock waves that blew out thousands of windows.

source: express.co.uk