Sunday, November 22, 2009

Was it a Bird? Was it a Plane? Was it a Meteorite?


Last night we were at a House Warming party, sitting around the open fire in the garden when sudden there was a huge flash in the sky.  At first I thougth it was lightning, but it was far too bright to be lightning.  Normally a sheet lightning flash would light up part of the sky - not the ENTIRE sky and not so brightly.

All of us sitting around the fire were sort of stunned for a while and then we didn't give it another thought as we all thought it was lightning.

Then today, I heard on the radio and read on iafrica that we had a Meteor 'flash' in Gauteng, South Africa.


Article By: Gia Nicolaides
Sunday, 22 Nov 2009 11:37
Johannesburg and Pretoria residents have come forward, claiming they spotted a meteor in the skies on Saturday night.

People in Gauteng saw the bright light at around 11pm on Saturday night, heading towards the north of Pretoria.

"We saw this big green ball of fire. It kind of came out of the sky, out of the blue," one resident said.

"There was sudden flash. Like an orange stripe in the sky, followed by a very bright explosion where the sky lit up as if it was daytime," another explained.


Astronomers and scientists are still trying to find out where the meteor landed.

Ronnie McKenzie collects meteorites and said something like this is very rare.  "I would say it probably happens around two or three times a year around the world," he said.

Google says it was The Leonid Shower - meteroid dust from the tail of Halley's Comet?

Anyone got any pictures??