Meteor news: Huge fireball sparks nuclear missile concerns in Canada

Canada: Meteor lights up night sky over Alberta

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Last night, a meteor broke through the atmosphere above Alberta, Canada, in the west of the country. The blast was so huge it could be seen from the tip of the US border all the way up into the Arctic circle. Some security cameras spotted the phenomenon, with a huge bright streak soaring through the sky.

One video shows a blast so bright it caused shadows in the dead of night as entire regions were lit up momentarily.

More than 300 people flocked to the International Meteor Organisation (IMO) to report their sighting.

Rosemary said: “Truly thought it was a mid-air explosion given the size and brightness of the flash.”

Aamer said: “The meteorite I saw was unique as it was too bright and the whole sky lit up for a much longer time.

“Also it just passed overhead with a long smoke trail which was visible for additional few more seconds.”

Ray said: “It was very bright, left visible white contrails in the sky for about five minutes.

“I stargaze every morning and watch satellites. This object was right in my normal sightline, and I saw it clearly from beginning to end.”

Chris feared a nuclear attack was impending, saying: “For a fraction of a second, I thought it was a nuclear missile or something man-made.”

Thankfully, no nuclear missiles had been launched and the phenomenon was caused by a space rock entering the atmosphere.

Astronomer Dr Chris Herd of the University of Alberta told Canadian radio 630 CHED Mornings: “It means that some kind of a rock has come through the atmosphere and the outside is heated up to give us that bright fireball that people have caught on their doorbell cameras and other places.”

Fireballs are created when space rocks hit the atmosphere, with air seeping into the pores, causing it to explode.

The IMO said: “Fireballs are meteors that appear brighter than normal.

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“Due to the velocity at which they strike the Earth’s atmosphere, fragments larger than one millimetre have the capability to produce a bright flash as they streak through the heavens above.

“These bright meteors are what we call fireballs and they often strike fear and awe for those who witness them.”

Perhaps one of the most famous fireballs to hit Earth came in 2013 when a meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The blast was caused by a 20-metre meteor. It led to an explosion which caused over £25.3million (€30million) in damages to the small Russian city.

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