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This morning people from many parts of Slovakia are asking the question: What caused the mysterious glow registered on Sunday night just before midnight?
"Just before midnight I noticed a loud noise which words cannot describe. I saw the glow in the window. The whole event lasted about 5-6 seconds, but it was something extraordinary," we were informed by a reader from Tornale. The so far unexplained event had been noticed in Rožňava near Košice and even in Hungary. Some thought it looked like fireworks, others were afraid that an explosion in some factory happened.
"I saw a bright light. I thought it was just lightning, but I didn't hear the thunder. Even more so it was snowing at the time, that is why I thought it was odd," was the reaction of a female student from Východna.
Bang! And then silence. No wreckage, no clouds, no conflagration in the neighborhood. Just a lingering mystery.
It's been the talk of the town for weeks now -- the boom.
Bill McDevitt may never find out what caused the terrific clap of noise that startled him from bed in the early morning hours about three weeks ago.
"It wasn't just a distant rumble. It sounded like lightning hit across the street. It was a sudden, loud, explosive bang," he said. "You get up and go look out the windows and you expect to see smoke or flames coming from the woods or somebody else's house, but I didn't."
McDevitt is just one of many north Pelham residents left wondering what's behind the blasts out of the blue. In the days following the first incidents, the town's online message board lit up with people swapping stories and cultivating theories.
Jill Atkinson, awoken by the same bang as McDevitt, thought her neighbor's home exploded. She expected to hear the approaching howl of sirens as she peered through her windows.
It's been the talk of the town for weeks now -- the boom.
Bill McDevitt may never find out what caused the terrific clap of noise that startled him from bed in the early morning hours about three weeks ago.
"It wasn't just a distant rumble. It sounded like lightning hit across the street. It was a sudden, loud, explosive bang," he said. "You get up and go look out the windows and you expect to see smoke or flames coming from the woods or somebody else's house, but I didn't."
McDevitt is just one of many north Pelham residents left wondering what's behind the blasts out of the blue. In the days following the first incidents, the town's online message board lit up with people swapping stories and cultivating theories.
Jill Atkinson, awoken by the same bang as McDevitt, thought her neighbor's home exploded. She expected to hear the approaching howl of sirens as she peered through her windows.
Doug Peltz, a science teacher at LePort Upper Elementary & Jr. High, says he saw a bright fireball (meteor) Sunday night from Irvine and is wondering whether others saw the same thing. He's reported the sighting to Orange County Astronomers, one of the country's largest amateur astronomy groups. (Numerous other readers say they saw something. Check Comments below.)
Peltz said in an email that, "At 9:39 p.m. (Sunday, Jan. 10), from East Irvine (Portola Springs), I just witnessed the brightest fireball I've ever seen! It lit up the whole sky, such that my wife at first thought it was lightning.
"Definitely bright blue in color, and it streaked from between Castor & Pollux (Gemini) and Mars. Tracing the path backwards, it seemed to me that its radiant point was perhaps the constellation Auriga. I even heard a crackling sound as it streaked.
Peltz said in an email that, "At 9:39 p.m. (Sunday, Jan. 10), from East Irvine (Portola Springs), I just witnessed the brightest fireball I've ever seen! It lit up the whole sky, such that my wife at first thought it was lightning.
"Definitely bright blue in color, and it streaked from between Castor & Pollux (Gemini) and Mars. Tracing the path backwards, it seemed to me that its radiant point was perhaps the constellation Auriga. I even heard a crackling sound as it streaked.
You might think meteor expert Steven Simon knew exactly what was happening one evening when the skies over his home were lit up by an exploding, 2,000-pound space rock bigger than a refrigerator. But it was only the next day, when nearby residents brought him chunks of the extraterrestrial visitor that had landed in the street and punched through their roofs, that Simon began to understand the true nature of the frightening event.
Now after a year of study, the University of Chicago researcher has helped produce a full account of the giant rock that tore through the atmosphere at 54 times the speed of sound.
Simon was in his Park Forest home about 30 miles south of Chicago with the drapes drawn near midnight on March 26, 2003.
"I saw the flash, and although it lasted longer than a lightning flash, that's what I thought it was," he told SPACE.com last week. "I knew it had rained that night, and thought maybe it was multiple flashes, perhaps diffused by the clouds."
Now after a year of study, the University of Chicago researcher has helped produce a full account of the giant rock that tore through the atmosphere at 54 times the speed of sound.
Simon was in his Park Forest home about 30 miles south of Chicago with the drapes drawn near midnight on March 26, 2003.
"I saw the flash, and although it lasted longer than a lightning flash, that's what I thought it was," he told SPACE.com last week. "I knew it had rained that night, and thought maybe it was multiple flashes, perhaps diffused by the clouds."
Keen observers of weather might have noticed something odd about the flash of light and the subsequent loud rumble at around 10 o'clock on Sunday night - something that might have tipped them off that it wasn't just thunder and lightning.
A spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory said the official belief now is that the brilliant flash, dimmed substantially on the East End by the thick cloud cover, and the very loud and sustained rumble that followed half a minute or more later were actually caused by a large meteor, called a bolide, or fireball, streaking through the earth's atmosphere and bursting apart.
"We were sitting watching television ... and from where I was sitting I could see a bit of light," said Al Marino, who lives with his wife, Eve, in the Northwest Woods section of East Hampton. "Then there was a rumbling, not a boom at first, and then -
boom!
A spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory said the official belief now is that the brilliant flash, dimmed substantially on the East End by the thick cloud cover, and the very loud and sustained rumble that followed half a minute or more later were actually caused by a large meteor, called a bolide, or fireball, streaking through the earth's atmosphere and bursting apart.
"We were sitting watching television ... and from where I was sitting I could see a bit of light," said Al Marino, who lives with his wife, Eve, in the Northwest Woods section of East Hampton. "Then there was a rumbling, not a boom at first, and then -
boom!
Between 8 and 8:30 p.m. on the night of October 26, 2008, residents in Westmoreland County, southeast of Pittsburgh, reported observing an odd brilliant light show in the sky, which some observers felt was not related to thunderstorm activity. I also have received observation reports from as far away as Somerset County in Pennsylvania, and into Ohio.
The first reports I received were from the Mount Pleasant Township area. Later reports came in from various other areas of Westmoreland County, including North Huntingdon Township, Greensburg and Latrobe.
The initial reports from Mount Pleasant Township, described an intense flash of white light which lit up the sky in all directions. The flash lasted only a fraction of a second. Observers felt certain that this was no lightning bolt. The exact position of where the flash was originating from could not be determined since all sections of the sky were illuminated.
The sky was very clear and full of stars. There was absolutely no thunder or other sound heard at the time.
The first reports I received were from the Mount Pleasant Township area. Later reports came in from various other areas of Westmoreland County, including North Huntingdon Township, Greensburg and Latrobe.
The initial reports from Mount Pleasant Township, described an intense flash of white light which lit up the sky in all directions. The flash lasted only a fraction of a second. Observers felt certain that this was no lightning bolt. The exact position of where the flash was originating from could not be determined since all sections of the sky were illuminated.
The sky was very clear and full of stars. There was absolutely no thunder or other sound heard at the time.
Numerous people living in Edmonton and surrounding areas are reporting seeing a meteorite-like fireball that lit up the sky.
It not been confirmed as a meteor by official sources, but many witnesses report seeing "bright orange flames" with a large tail that shot horizontally across the sky and then disappeared.
Others said it looked like horizontal lightning, where all the clouds in one huge swath were lit up.
It not been confirmed as a meteor by official sources, but many witnesses report seeing "bright orange flames" with a large tail that shot horizontally across the sky and then disappeared.
Others said it looked like horizontal lightning, where all the clouds in one huge swath were lit up.
A Bexley woman is hoping News Shopper readers can throw some light on a mystery object seen falling from the sky at the height of last night's storm.
Jean Carpenter, who lives just off Bexleyheath Broadway, was watching the spectacular lightning display from the back step of her home with her son.
Mrs Carpenter, who is in her 70s, said: "We were looking southwards towards Bexley Village at about 9.40pm when we saw an object falling from the sky.
"It was all lit up, as if it was on fire and was just dropping straight down."
Jean Carpenter, who lives just off Bexleyheath Broadway, was watching the spectacular lightning display from the back step of her home with her son.
Mrs Carpenter, who is in her 70s, said: "We were looking southwards towards Bexley Village at about 9.40pm when we saw an object falling from the sky.
"It was all lit up, as if it was on fire and was just dropping straight down."
All Jeana Green could think of was that something had exploded in the sky Sunday night.
The North Middleton Township resident, her husband and two of her neighbors sat on a deck talking when the sky lit up about 10:15 p.m.
"It looked like a shooting star, but it was a lot bigger," Green said. "There were pale sparks and orange flames that turned blue-green. Then it was like a fireball, and right before it disappeared, there was a flash like it exploded and it was gone. It lit up the sky like heat lightning."
The North Middleton Township resident, her husband and two of her neighbors sat on a deck talking when the sky lit up about 10:15 p.m.
"It looked like a shooting star, but it was a lot bigger," Green said. "There were pale sparks and orange flames that turned blue-green. Then it was like a fireball, and right before it disappeared, there was a flash like it exploded and it was gone. It lit up the sky like heat lightning."
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Update: Dry weather, fires, spontaneous combustion? As it turns out the Taurid meteor event was not a complete bust, more like a combustion:
1st of July 2008 - Witnesses across Southern California say they saw an object 'moving very fast across the northern sky' and falling near the San Bernardino Mountains. Officials have no firm answers on what it was.Now isn't it a "coincidence" that California became engulfed, at its peak, in 1,783 fires across the state, scorching over 527,000 acres, including one in the San Bernardino mountains. Firefighters are still battling over 300 fires. Yet, all the fires are being blamed on "unusual early-summer lightning storms".
From Hollywood Hills to the Nevada state line, people reported seeing a fireball streaking across the sky and falling near the San Bernardino Mountains this morning. But explanations of the mysterious object were scarce.
San Bernardino County Fire Dispatch reported receiving dozens of calls related to what was described as fireball moving at high speed and falling in northwest sky around 10:40 a.m.
"We got quite a few reports. It started with a gentlemen in the Lake Arrowhead reporting a fireball in the Meadow Bay area and then we started getting calls from all over," said San Bernardino County dispatch supervisor Tom Barnes. "Fire crews in Barstow and on I-15 near Stateline came up on the radio and reported an object in the sky moving very fast across the northern sky and described it as yellowish green in color with streaks of debris. It looked like it burned up before it hit the ground."
