Post by Jessie Desmond on Feb 27, 2016 20:13:57 GMT -9
Bright Light Spotted Throughout Interior Most Likely Meteor
Thu, 02/25/2016 - 19:00 -- mfussell
A number of people reported seeing what some were calling a 'fireball in the sky' Wednesday night.
Social media users from Fairbanks to Fort Yukon and Tok posted about the appearance of a bright, green light with flickering debris, which lasted for several seconds.
"I called my girlfriend right after," Laura Duffy, a Gilmore Trail resident, said. "It took four or five seconds from when I first saw it. It was amazing."
Laura Duffy was one of the first to call the station to share what she had seen at her home just outside of Fairbanks around 7 P.M.
"I've got this 60 foot spruce tree in my front yard," Duffy said. "It silhouetted the spruce tree. It was like Northern Lights in a big orb, only 100 times brighter."
With social media abuzz, questions arose referencing alien jokes and concerns about military aircraft.
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute caught the display on a camera studying the aurora.
Donald Hampton, a Research Assistant Professor at UAF, said the awe-inspiring light in the sky was probably caused by something that happens often, just not right in front of our eyes.
"Meteors happen all the time," Hampton said. "There are probably 100 or 200 of these a day that pass through our atmosphere. You've just got be in the right place at the right time."
Hampton adds the meteor most likely burnt up before it was able to make contact with the earth's surface.
He said the space rock that caused the spectacle was most likely the size of a pea.
"It's going so fast it just starts to glow, and, as it runs through the atmosphere, material comes off of the surface," Hampton said.
Hampton said the locations of the sightings, spot in the sky and physical descriptions reported on social media are all consistent with a meteor, which may put other theories to rest.
Thu, 02/25/2016 - 19:00 -- mfussell
A number of people reported seeing what some were calling a 'fireball in the sky' Wednesday night.
Social media users from Fairbanks to Fort Yukon and Tok posted about the appearance of a bright, green light with flickering debris, which lasted for several seconds.
"I called my girlfriend right after," Laura Duffy, a Gilmore Trail resident, said. "It took four or five seconds from when I first saw it. It was amazing."
Laura Duffy was one of the first to call the station to share what she had seen at her home just outside of Fairbanks around 7 P.M.
"I've got this 60 foot spruce tree in my front yard," Duffy said. "It silhouetted the spruce tree. It was like Northern Lights in a big orb, only 100 times brighter."
With social media abuzz, questions arose referencing alien jokes and concerns about military aircraft.
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute caught the display on a camera studying the aurora.
Donald Hampton, a Research Assistant Professor at UAF, said the awe-inspiring light in the sky was probably caused by something that happens often, just not right in front of our eyes.
"Meteors happen all the time," Hampton said. "There are probably 100 or 200 of these a day that pass through our atmosphere. You've just got be in the right place at the right time."
Hampton adds the meteor most likely burnt up before it was able to make contact with the earth's surface.
He said the space rock that caused the spectacle was most likely the size of a pea.
"It's going so fast it just starts to glow, and, as it runs through the atmosphere, material comes off of the surface," Hampton said.
Hampton said the locations of the sightings, spot in the sky and physical descriptions reported on social media are all consistent with a meteor, which may put other theories to rest.