Bright daylight fireball over Kanto, Japan

A bright daylight meteor was recorded over Japan’ Kanto Region at 06:55 JST on January 15, 2024. The event was accompanied by a sonic boom.

Fujii Daichi, a curator specializing in astronomy at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa Prefecture, successfully captured the event on cameras located at his home in Hiratsuka and in the neighboring Shizuoka Prefecture.

The footage recorded at 06:55 local time, showed a bright sphere of light appearing in the dawn sky and lasting for a few seconds before vanishing.

Fujii noted that the trajectory of the light seemed to head towards Nagano Prefecture, situated north of Shizuoka, originating from above Kanagawa. The intensity of the light, according to Fujii, suggests that the meteor could have been dozens of centimeters in diameter.

In addition to the visual spectacle, eyewitnesses, primarily from the Kanto region, reported hearing a blasting sound on social media.

衝撃波の音も録れていました！2024年1月15日6時55分36秒に流れた大火球を、富士から別のカメラで捉えた様子です。火球出現から約4分後の6時59分39秒に轟音が鳴り響きました。 https://t.co/I9ne4yGD2V pic.twitter.com/7WNC7Bg3Ma

— 藤井大地 (@dfuji1) January 15, 2024

References:

¹ ‘Daytime fireball’ meteor spotted near Tokyo, central Japan – NHK – January 15, 2024

Featured image credit: Fijii Daichi (stillshot)