Fireball ‘bright as the moon’ lights up sky over western Japan | Meteors
A flashing fire ball has crossed the western sky of Japan, shocking residents and dazzling stars, although experts said it was a natural phenomenon and not an extraterrestrial invasion.
Videos and photos emerged online from the extremely brilliant light ball visible over hundreds of kilometers shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time (1400 BST) on Tuesday.
“A white light that I had never seen before came from above, and it became so brilliant that I could clearly see the forms of the houses around us,” said Yoshihiko Hamahata, who led to the prefecture of Miyazaki, to the NHK public broadcaster.
“It seemed to be daylight. For a while, I didn’t know what had happened and was very surprised.”
Toshihisa Maeda, head of the Sendai Space Museum in the Kagoshima region, in southwest Japan, said it was an exceptionally brilliant meteor.
He seemed to have entered the Pacific, he said, adding: “People said they felt the air vibrate. It was as brilliant as the Moon.”
Objects causing such fire ball events can exceed one meter (3 feet), depending on NASA. The fireballs exploding in the atmosphere are technically called racing cars, although the term fire ball is often used interchangeably.
