Meteor explodes over Cape Town, South Africa

ByTeo Blašković
meteor-explodes-over-cape-town-south-africa

Image credit: Dave Apter

A bright meteor exploded over Cape Town, South Africa around 18:05 UTC on January 16, 2019 (20:05 local time). Bright light produced by the object was followed by very loud sound and ground shaking.

The American Meteor Society has so far received 6 reports about this event. If you witnessed it, please fill out this form.

People from all over the Cape, from Hermanus to Franschhoek, Cape Town and all the way to the Swartland, have been talking about the 'massive flash of flight' that appeared suddenly in the twilight sky, The Citizen reports.

According to witnesses, this bright object was followed by a loud bang that shook the ground and rattled houses and windows.

Trajectory and eyewitness heatmap – South Africa fireball, January 16, 2019. Credit: AMS

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) confirmed that it had received hundreds of reports, The South African reports.

While no official statement has yet been issued by the organization, Riana Steenekamp, media spokesperson for Overstrand Municipality, says that she has been in contact with SANSA, and that they have indeed verified the event.

Initial analysis suggests parts of the object landed in the Helderberg vicinity.

Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.

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2 Comments

  1. It’s me again. Please don’t misunderstand me, your content and site is wonderful, disturbing & necessary. I just hope having the odd/frequent uplifting story would be better for us all. What we focus our attention on, we tend to get more of! So let’s all think happy thoughts, redress the balance and slowly & surely find our way back to joy, sustainability, harmony and even Nutopia.
    Very best of luck to you. God help us all.
    ★ j a m e s ★

    1. I understand you and appreciate your thoughts. I believe balance and happy thoughts are individual things and should be approached as such. Since one platform can’t serve all individual needs, it’s up to all of us, individually, to create that balance. Micro to macro. Or as Gandhi said, be the change you want to see in the world. Wouldn’t that serve the collective better?

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