[meteorite-list] Large Fireball Over Scotland

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3470708/The-flash-sky-turned-night-day-Comet-lights-horizon-Inverness-Edinburgh.html

The mystery 'meteor' that turned night into day: Giant fireball lights 
up the horizon across Scotland and leaves onlookers terrified 

* Thousands of people saw hug flash of light from Inverness to Edinburgh
* Light followed by rolling bang that some thought was satellite sonic 
boom 
* Twitter lit up with speculation over the event, which made ground shake
* Police and the MoD said they were unaware of what could have caused 
it  

By Maureen Sugden For The Scottish Daily Mail and Martin Robinson, Uk 
Chief Reporter For Mailonline
March 1, 2016

People from Inverness to Edinburgh reported a white, red or blue light 
that swept across the skyline at around 6.45pm last night.

Witnesses described a rumbling noise lasting up to ten seconds before 
the pitch black Scottish evening turned bright white and a fireball swept 
across the horizon. 

Kim Paterson of Brechin, Angus, tweeted: 'Proper massive rumble, ground 
shaking, folk seeing the sky flash... is this the end?!' 

Police Scotland said it received a number of 999 calls and confirmed it 
was likely to be a meteor while the Met Office confirmed there had been 
no thunder storms over Scotland. 

There were suggestions it could have been a sonic boom from an aircraft 
or a flare from a satellite.

There were no reports of aircraft in distress, while the MoD said it was 
unaware of any events in the area - but would not comment on claims it 
was linked to an aircraft.

Astronomers last night said it was most likely to be a meteor burning 
up as it came into contact with the Earth's atmosphere.

The meteor is likely to have burned up but people are searching for debris.

On Twitter, Jake Logan said: 'Flash in the sky that lit up Braemar like 
daylight, followed by a huge rolling bang like thunder that lasted 10 
secs. Sky is clear.' 

John Poyner of Nethy Bridge, Inverness-shire, said: 'Anyone local just 
see a bright flash lighting up whole sky. Not lightning. Reports of brilliant 
meteor like object.'

A Police Scotland spokesman said they began receiving calls at around 
6.55pm on Monday evening.

She said: 'One told us the sky had been lit up with an object like a fireball. 
Another caller said there was a very loud bang and others said the house 
shook.

'We know police in Inverness and in the south also received calls - it 
was seen by people across Scotland.
'We have checked and been told it was likely to be a meteor shower.' 

The bright white streak across the night sky sparked speculation on social 
media whether it was an astronomical event, military activity or, perhaps 
more far-fetched, linked to British astronaut Tim Peake.

Inverness SNP member Jackie Hendry tweeted: 'Did anyone else see that 
big white flash in the sky ... I reckon it was Tim Peake.'

Madcow-paula tweeted: 'LOL ... some reckon @astro-timpeake dropped something 
causing a big white flash in the sky over Scotland this evening!'

SteveCDT1986 tweeted:'Big white flash and some sort of meteor in the night 
sky. Looked really close aswell. #endoftheworld #armageddon.'

@Colsuth tweeted: 'saw it here in Moray just as we were passing RAF Lossie. 
Thought it was from there.'

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said they would not discuss if there 
was any link to any operations in the area.

STV weather forecaster Sean Batty said: 'I've had lots of tweets from 
around the North and East of the country this evening, with people reporting 
a loud bang and a large flash in the sky. Most tweets have come from around 
Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire and Moray.

'There are no thunderstorms being reported anywhere in Scotland this evening, 
therefore this is not due to a flash of lightning. My only conclusion 
would be that this is indeed a meteor which has burned up and exploded 
during entry into our upper atmosphere.'

In 2013, a meteor that exploded over Russia was found by scientists to 
be 30 times brighter than the Sun, with the force of 40 Hiroshima atom 
bombs. Their analysis confirmed it was the biggest in a century.

The 62ft-wide meteor exploded in a fireball above Chelyabinsk, causing 
damage up to 50 miles away. At its fastest, it was travelling at more 
than 40,000mph.

'It has burned up and exploded'.