Fireball lights up sky across Canadian prairies

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Sightings of bright meteors have taken place frequently in recent months. Image: Toad43.

A bright object, likely a meteor, was seen shooting across the sky and was sighted by residents across the Canadian prairies early Tuesday morning.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. local time (MDT) the object appeared to early morning travelers, commuters and joggers.

"It kind of glowed green, and it looked like it was falling very, very quickly. It just kind of reminded me of a falling star or something," said Cheryl Cook-Taylor, who was traveling to work in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.

"It kind of disintegrated. It was traveling north to south. Very bright. I actually thought it was a plane taking off from the airport and then bits started falling off. Really quite an amazing sight," said another witness to the phenomenon.

Newspapers and radio stations across Saskatchewan and Alberta have been inundated with callers reporting the fireball. It has been described as a bright green, yellow and blue streak flashing across the skies which then broke into pieces. A geologist from the University of Calgary, Dr. Alan Hildebrand, says the object was likely a meteor that was between 10 and 100 kilograms in size. The light show lasted around ten seconds.

On November 20, 2008 prairie skies were previously lit up by a fireball. A huge meteorite had disintegrated, and pieces were found near the border city of Lloydminster.

Related news

• "US military says 'fireballs' spotted over Texas are not related to satellite collision". Wikinews, February 16, 2009

Sources

• Trevor Howell "Expert says streaking light witnessed around Calgary likely a meteor" – Calgary Herald, March 31, 2009
• The Star Phoenix "Unknown object lights up sky in western Canada" – Canwest, March 31, 2009
• "Albertans claim to have seen 'great glow' in the sky" –  March 31, 2009
• Calgary Herald "Unknown object lights up Calgary's sky" –  March 31, 2009
• Dominic Terry & Alicia Hope-Ross "Fireball streaks across the morning sky" –  March 31, 2009
  

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