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Category: Odd + Funny Author : JR Posted: February 16, 2009
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Texas Fireball Video: What Fell From The Sky?


Texas Fireball VideoVideo of what looks like a fireball falling from the sky in Texas is raising plenty of questions — and now, the government has some answers.

The Texas Fireball Video

The video, captured by an Austin news photographer during a marathon Sunday morning, shows some sort of unidentified object coming down and sending off sparks.

Texas Fireball, Satellite Crash Connection

Initial speculation suggested the Texas fireball may have been some sort of small aircraft crashing. Then, FAA statements quoted in early news stories said the object could be debris from last week’s satellite crash in space. The FAA had issued a warning to pilots just one day earlier to be on the lookout for any possible debris from the collision:

“FDC 9/5902 FDC .. SPECIAL NOTICE .. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. AIRCRAFT ARE ADVISED THAT A POTENTIAL HAZARD MAY OCCUR DUE TO REENTRY OF SATELLITE DEBRIS INTO THE EARTHS ATMOSPHERE. FURTHER NOTAMS WILL BE ISSUED IF MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. IN THE INTEREST OF FLIGHT SAFETY, IT IS CRITICAL THAT ALL PILOTS/FLIGHT CREW MEMBERS REPORT ANY OBSERVED FALLING SPACE DEBRIS TO THE APPROPRIATE ATC FACILITY TO INCLUDE POSITION, ALTITUDE, TIME, AND DIRECTION OF DEBRIS OBSERVED.”

Texas Fireball: NASA’s Explanation

The U.S. Strategic Command, however, now says the fireball had “no relation” to the satellite crash, News 8 Austin reports. And scientists with NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, having reportedly analyzed the video shown above, are now being quoted as saying the object was a natural meteor.

Interestingly, similar fireball-like explosions were reported in Kentucky Friday night.

Got your own theories? Feel free to weigh in.











Comments


4 Archived Responses to “ Texas Fireball Video: What Fell From The Sky? ”

  1. Joe
    Feb 16, 2009

    I believe, that it indeed is debris from the satellite collision. what else could it be? There where no signs of incoming meteors according to certain astronomers. I believe that the governments from both US and Russia are lying about the debris field caused by such a large collision.

  2. wr8y
    Feb 16, 2009

    That was a meteor-class asteroid moving at least 20 kilometers a second … so says Astronomer Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

    Orbital debris does not move that fast – remember the footage of Columbia as it broke up on re-entry????

  3. Leon
    Feb 17, 2009

    ok what ever it was it could have been bad! ….. if the FAA knew it could have been debre from satellite and told planes to watch out, why wasn't the publice told any thing ?

  4. Eren
    Nov 20, 2010

    I’m am emailing you because as I was googling this fire ball I’ve seen today, I came across your website and would like to inform you on this incident.

    Today 11/19/10 at 5:35pm in Alvin Texas. I seen a huge fire ball fall from the sky. The tail or tracer behind it was long with a bright-yellowish-orange color. In no time I seen 3 military jets appear to fly toward this thing. At 5:42pm I seen a second ball of fire fall which was positioned much higher than the first fire ball, and a good distance behind it. Because I was driving, I was unable to take pictures of this thing.