Bright fireball, sonic boom reported over Sri Lanka
A bright fireball accompanied by a sonic boom was reported streaking through the night sky over Sri Lanka around 15:30 UTC (21:00 local time) on October 18, 2017.
Numerous people from the Southern Province of the country reported loud explosion associated with the event while residents along the Matara coast say they witnessed an object emitting a bright light and falling into the seas off the coast.
According to the Arthur C Clarke Institute for Moder Technologies, yesterday's bright light and explosion was most certainly a meteor.
"People who saw the asteroid reported different color lights. Most of it was green and yellow due to its elements reacting to the heat," said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, from the Colombo University Physical Science Department. "The explosion could have caused damage, but fortunately it broke into small pieces," he said.
The American Meteor Society received 4 reports, 1 from the Sri Lanka's Western Province and 2 from Southern Province and one from Singapore.
The event occurred just three and a half hours before a bright daylight meteor disintegrated over Long Island, New York, US. That event reportedly lasted from 3.5 to 7.5 seconds. One user reported seeing it for about 20 seconds.
The NY event has been caught on tape and reported to the AMS by R. Wade from Radcakes.com:
Featured image: Sri Lanka fireball – October 18, 2017 – heatmap. Credit: Google, AMS
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