Bright green fireball illuminates sky over Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
A very bright fireball illuminated the skies over the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico on Saturday, January 25, 2025. The event lasted for about 5 seconds before the object disintegrated.
Fireball over Dominican Republic on January 25, 2025. Image credit: PhillyMadeRai
A very bright fireball was observed over the skies of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico at approximately 23:09 UTC (19:09 local time) on Saturday.
The event created a striking green display and appeared to fragment before disappearing.
Reports also indicate that it displayed hues of purple, suggesting the presence of potassium compounds in the bolide.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has thus far received only 2 reports – one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Puerto Rico.
“Once in a lifetime event, it was amazing,” a user from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico said, adding that the object flashed when it went to the horizon.
Bill from Punta Cana said he saw it briefly disappear behind clouds. “It definitely fragmented at the end. We saw a big piece fall off.”
I just caught the craziest meteor EVER ove San Jose de Ocoa, Dominican Republic. It lasted for so long that I had time to pull my phone out and record. It broke into pieces RIGHT above me and displayed colors of blue/green/purple as it broke into pieces. pic.twitter.com/iwa6A9FUi9
— Rai (@PhillyMadeRai) January 25, 2025
Tonight, Spectacular Meteor Sighting Over Dominican Republic!
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) January 26, 2025
A dazzling #Meteor illuminated the night sky over a vast area of the Dominican Republic at 7:10 PM tonight, putting on a breathtaking show for witnesses! Captured by mel.ar29 pic.twitter.com/956D78RchY
The green hue of the fireball suggests the presence of copper compounds during combustion. When copper or its compounds, such as copper chloride or copper sulfate, are heated to high temperatures, they emit green light due to their characteristic atomic emission lines.
This phenomenon occurs because copper atoms become excited by the heat, and as they return to their ground state, they release energy as green light.
References:
1 Fireball event 516-2025 – AMS – January 25, 2025
2 Fireball event 517-2025 – AMS – January 25, 2025
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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