According to the Daily Mail, a brilliant green fireball burst across the sky in the Southwest of England last month, recently confirmed by the UK’s leading meteor observation network as an ancient meteorite, shiny, glimmering, and dark in color. A large number of residents in South Wales, Hertfordshire, and West Sussex witnessed the phenomenon.
Image captured by a local’s dashcam – (Photo: DAILY MAIL)
More than 250 residents reported the event through the UKMON website, and 15 out of the 150 cameras set up across the country by this network also recorded the special moment.
UKMON, the Fireball Recovery and Interplanetary Observation Network (Fripon), the Global Fireball Observatory (GFO), and the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFall) shared data and collaborated in analyzing the mysterious green fireball.
Image from one of UKMON’s cameras – (Photo: UKMON)
“Preliminary analysis from UKMON data indicates that the fireball reached an altitude of about 30 km above the ground, with a speed of 6.9 km/s. That’s quite interesting,” said UKMON founder Richard Kacerek to Mail Online.
UKMON believes that with these parameters, the green fireball likely landed on the ground rather than being completely incinerated, but they may also need diving equipment as calculations suggest it fell into the Bristol Channel.
Another view from a different camera – (Photo: UKMON)
According to UKFall, this green fireball is a meteorite. They predict it will land in the town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. UKFall researcher Aine O’Brien told BBC News that it could be an ancient meteorite older than Earth, potentially unlocking more knowledge about the Solar System. The search process is still ongoing.
