A California fireball spotted in the skies joins the unexpected Russian meteor incident in thralling web users across the globe.
The California fireball wasn’t as impactful as the meteor in Russia, but the sky phenomenon shocked and delighted Bay Area residents when it made an appearance at around 7:45 PM on Friday.
NBC Los Angeles covered the California fireball — described as “bluish” by witnesses who described the fiery sight as “heading straight for the ground” — and one of their Facebook fans, Candice Guruwaiya, relates her experience in spotting the surprise sky show:
“I was leaving Safeway on Branham and Snell when I saw it. It looked like it was headed for the Capital Auto Mall area. It was a bright green when it first appeared, then it went to a bright yellow. It was awesome!”
Jealous? It seems those who saw the California fireball in the sky were lucky indeed, and local Gina Johnson was even able to contrast the sighting with a previous, similar one in the fall:
“It looked just like the one I saw back in October except it was a little smaller. It was greenish in color just like the one on October. Everyone in the parking lot stopped and looked at it.”
USAToday quotes an astronomer who explains that the California fireball is likely a standard occurrence, and not cause for alarm:
“Astronomer Gerald McKeegan told NBC that the fireball was probably a ‘sporadic meteor.’ He added that sporadic meteors impact the Earth several times a day and can bring up to 15,000 tons of space debris per year to Earth.”
No damage was reported following the California fireball sighting.
