(BBC) – An “extremely rare” meteor known as a daytime fireball has been blamed for a sonic boom-type noise heard across parts of England. People in Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Jersey reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a streak of light in the sky on Saturday afternoon.
After analyzing pictures and videos, experts confirmed they showed a meteor. They have urged people to keep an eye out and report any fallen fragments of the space rock. Simon Proud, a specialist in aviation meteorology at the University of Oxford, captured the meteor – which appeared as a bright flash – flying over the UK on a weather satellite.
Richard Kacerek, from the UK Meteor Observation Network of amateur astronomers, said only the brightest “bolide class” meteor could produce a rare “daytime fireball”.
He added that the one seen on Saturday would have needed to be “very large” to be visible during day. Dr. Ashley King from the UK Fireball Alliance – a group of experts and enthusiasts who hunt for freshly-fallen meteorites – said the fireball “would have been going faster than the speed of sound”. “Normally when you hear that it’s a good sign that you have got rocks that have made it to the surface. It’s incredibly exciting and I’m a bit stunned,” he said. READ MORE
