3 ms·
I had an identical experience while on the coast of the Mid-Atlantic US several years ago: a giant fireball flew over me for around half a minute, give or take.
by cs702 5y ago
I had an identical experience while on the coast of the Mid-Atlantic US several years ago: a giant fireball flew over me for around half a minute, give or take. I was indoors looking at the sea at night through a large window. There was no sound I could hear from inside the room. I was so mesmerized by the meteor that it didn't occur to me to take my eyes off from it, you know, to grab my phone and record the whole thing. It all looked like a special effect in a big-budget movie, but in real life.
Now, I'm almost certain that mythological figures like Helios, who rides a "chariot of fire" in the sky, must be interpretations of similar meteor sightings in antiquity: https://www.google.com/search?q=helios+chariot+of+fire&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=helios+chariot+of+fire&tbm=i... -- a "chariot of fire" is pretty apt description, IMHO.
- Cpoll 5y ago"Like Helios" maybe, but I think in Helios's case the 'chariot of fire' is carrying the Sun across the day's sky. As I recall from the myth, at night he sails (on water) from West to East to prepare for the next day. The story doesn't fit well with a fast-moving night-time meteor(ite).
- cs702 5y agoYou're right. Nonetheless, I do feel "chariot of fire" is an apt description that captures the magic of what I saw :-)
- pfdietz 5y agoIf the fireball took half a minute (or seemed to) it was probably reentering spacecraft debris, like an upper stage. These are slower than meteors and tend to be going nearly horizontally, which extends their lifetime.
- cs702 5y agoThat makes a lot of sense. Yes, it could have been spacecraft debris.