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Meteor shocks Canadians in rush of colour and explosions. Image: SkyNews.While most incoming meteors burn up long before breaking through the planet's atmosphere, shocked Canadians were treated to a rare visual treat late last week when the night sky was abruptly lit by a fireball hurtling through the clouds. Recorded on video by a police camera, the brief but amazing light show took place at around 17:30 on Thursday and led to a rush of hundreds of sightings stretching from Alberta to Saskatchewan, according to reports from Canadian broadcaster CBC. “It was a really big flash, lit up the sky, and there was this huge, flaming fireball falling from the sky,” said one CBC caller who watched the event from the Canadian Forces base in Cold Lake, Alta., which is situated approximately 350 kilometres north-east of Edmonton.
Meteor shocks Canadians in rush of colour and explosions. Image: SkyNews.
While most incoming meteors burn up long before breaking through the planet's atmosphere, shocked Canadians were treated to a rare visual treat late last week when the night sky was abruptly lit by a fireball hurtling through the clouds.
Recorded on video by a police camera, the brief but amazing light show took place at around 17:30 on Thursday and led to a rush of hundreds of sightings stretching from Alberta to Saskatchewan, according to reports from Canadian broadcaster CBC.
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Others left wide-eyed by the falling chunk of space rock described how it appeared to be a ball of rushing white light initially surrounded by a green glow, which then gave way to several bright flashes of orange as the object descended closer to its eventual point of impact.
According to Alister Ling, an Edmonton-based amateur astronomer and member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the multiple flares seen on the police cruiser's camera footage likely indicate the meteor's break up, which he offers is “a really good indicator” of multiple pieces having found their way to the ground.
However, Ling also added that locating any remaining debris could be potentially difficult as the initial fireball would have burnt out and ceased being visible at a height of around 50 kilometres.
Working alongisde other astronomers located throughout Alberta, Ling said he will now be striving to collate information gleaned from footage captured by various local network cameras and eyewitness reports in order to come up with a reliable search zone.
Other notables looking to track down any meteor fragments include University of Calgary planetary scientist Alan Hildebrand, who has revealed he intends to begin searching for debris in and around the Macklin area of Saskatchewan.
Click below to see the amazing police camera footage.
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