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Updated March 23rd, 2021 at 16:15 IST

England: Sonic boom heard across four counties blamed on rare 'daytime fireball’ meteor

An extremely rare meteor, known as ‘daytime fireball’, has been blamed for a sonic boom-type noise heard across multiple counties in England, UK.

Reported by: Bhavya Sukheja
England
| Image:self
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A rare meteor, known as ‘daytime fireball’, has been blamed for a sonic boom-type noise heard across multiple counties in England. According to BBC, residents of Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Jersey reported the loud banging noise and seeing a streak of light in the sky on March 20. Following the incident, the experts revealed that it was a meteor and they also requested residents to keep an eye out for any fallen space rock fragments. 

A specialist in aviation meteorology at the University of Oxford, Simon Proud, captured the meteor flying over the UK on a weather satellite. While taking to Twitter, Proud shared a GIF in which the meteor appeared as a bright flashlight. 

‘Faster than speed of sound’ 

While speaking to the media outlet, Richard Kacerek, from the UK Meteor Observation Network of amateur astronomers, explained that the only brightest “bolide class” meteor could produce a rare “daytime fireball”. He added that the only one seen on Saturday would have needed to be “very large” to be visible during the day. In a separate statement, Dr Ashley King from the UK Fireball Alliance said that the fireball would have been going faster than the speed of sound. 

Now, experts are curating data from security/ traffic/ amateur cameras to analyse and track the meteor’s path. They have also asked people in the Devon, Dorset or Somerset areas to report finds of any fragments - believed to be small blackish stones or a mound of dark dust. It is worth mentioning that following the huge bang, which shook homes and windows, an earthquake was ruled out by The British Geological Survey. 

Meanwhile, back in February, a meteor flying across the sky at night was caught on lots of doorbell cameras across the United Kingdom. As per reports, several rocky fragments were recovered from the fireball as they came down in the Winchcombe areas of Gloucestershire. As it happened at night cameras were able to record the rock coming through the atmosphere creating a huge fireball in the process. 

(Rep. image: Unsplash) 

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Published March 23rd, 2021 at 16:15 IST

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