Bright fireball lights up the sky over southern France
Image credit: AMS
A bright fireball streaked across southern France at 20:28 UTC (22:28 LT) on Saturday, April 24, 2021. The fireball traveled over the Gulf of Lion, from Marseille to Montpellier.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 579 reports, from France, Italy, and Switzerland.
"I thought I saw a shooting star but the fluorescent green color and the orange trail behind surprised me," wrote an observer in Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon. "The phenomenon did not last more than 3 seconds I think. It was incredible."
"Probably the brightest meteorite I have observed," wrote a watcher in Courpière, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
"[It has] intense luminosity and abnormal size," described another witness who was able to capture the event.
Images inédites de la #météorite filmées par une caméra de vidéosurveillance près de #SaintTropez dans le #Var. Jacques Reysset pour @MteoGardHerault pic.twitter.com/utHyMuIxQw
— Météo Gard – Hérault (@MteoGardHerault) April 24, 2021
Wow! Looks like this is also on the @amsmeteors Pending Reports Fireball Log. @BaileyA71989494 https://t.co/hp0cTv0DUk
— Jaime Brush, M.S. (@jaime_brush) April 24, 2021
Fireball heatmap. Image credit: AMS
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