fireball

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'Transitory' Visitors to Night Sky Are Coming Tonight

Southern Taurids meteor shower is at its peak, meaning you might even see a fireball

(Newser) - If you happen to see a fireball whizzing through the night sky on Monday, it's not a Don't Look Up moment (ie, no need to panic): It's simply the peak of the Southern Taurids meteor shower, which has been active since September, per NPR . Shooting stars—meteors...

Man 'Cooked Alive' After Police Tased Him at a Gas Pump

Deputy involved has now been charged

(Newser) - Update: The Florida deputy accused of accidentally setting a motorcycle rider on fire when he tased him at a Florida gas station in February has been charged with culpable negligence, a misdemeanor, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The biker, too, is being charged with reckless driving, fleeing law enforcement and resisting...

NASA: Fireball Over South Was 10 Times Brighter Than Moon

Chunk of asteroid exploded over Louisiana

(Newser) - NASA has confirmed that a fireball seen over three Southern states this week was a piece of an asteroid around a foot across that exploded 34 miles above a swampy area in Louisiana. The agency says around 30 people in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana reported sightings. The meteor, which weighed...

Fireball Seen Across Midwest Was Failed Russian Satellite

Researchers believe spy satellite burned up before debris could hit the ground

(Newser) - People who saw a fireball blaze across Midwest skies early Wednesday were witnessing the death of a Russian satellite, not a meteor or a UFO, according to researchers who track objects in orbit. The American Meteor Society, which encourages people to report fireball sightings, says it received more than 80...

Doorbell Camera Captures Fireball Streaking Through Sky

Bright meteor was traveling 32,000mph

(Newser) - A North Carolina doorbell camera captured a huge fireball streaking across the sky Friday night, the News & Observer reports. Per CBS News , NASA says at least five fireballs were seen over the US that night. The bright meteors are brighter than the planet Venus, and this one was traveling...

Mysterious Object Over Seattle May Link Back to SpaceX

Company hasn't yet confirmed the 'dazzling,' meteor-like 'phantom' was one of its rockets

(Newser) - On Thursday evening, a "dazzling, splintering phantom" made its way across the sky in the Pacific Northwest, reaching from Portland to Seattle, reports the Washington Post . The sighting shocked, pleased, and confused viewers on the ground, who both marveled at the beauty of it but also expressed concern about...

Asteroid 'Firework' Exploded With Force of 440lbs of TNT

It was seen from 4 US states and Canada

(Newser) - People in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and Quebec, Canada, claim to have witnessed an asteroid breaking up in the sky on Sunday, which turned out to be rattling. Many people reported hearing a rumble or sonic boom as a 10-pound bowling ball-sized chunk of an asteroid—traveling at...

Clues to Huge Fireball Over Tehran Come Via a Photo

Analysts think explosion that shook Iran's capital originated at site near where missiles are made

(Newser) - An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, satellite photos showed Saturday. What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear,...

Oil Firm Says They Were Stealing Fuel. Then, a Giant Fireball

Pipeline explosion kills 66, injures dozens in Tlahuelilpan, Mexico

(Newser) - A massive fireball that engulfed people scooping up fuel spilling from a pipeline ruptured by thieves in central Mexico killed 66 people and left 85 others missing in what was a chronicle of a tragedy foretold. It came just three weeks after new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched an...

Asteroid Far Brighter Than Moon Dazzles Over US

NASA meteor cameras capture it above Alabama

(Newser) - People up late in the Southeast one night last week had the chance to catch a brief but spectacular light show. In a Facebook post , NASA says its meteor cameras picked up a small asteroid about 1:19am Friday that burned through the night sky and would have been tough...

Guam Advises Residents: Don't Look at Fireball

Government releases fact sheet with nuclear attack tips

(Newser) - The residents of Guam are trying to keep their nerves in check as tensions rise between the White House and Pyongyang. The latest fact sheet to come out of the territory's Homeland Security department may either soothe those nerves or worsen them, as it lists what one should do...

Weather Officials Explain Fireball in Western Sky

Thank the Chinese for this 'space junk'

(Newser) - A fireball in the sky Wednesday night led to a firestorm online and over the phone lines, CBS Los Angeles reports, with California residents up and down the coast—as well as in Las Vegas and as far away as Utah—reporting the odd celestial phenomenon. The light flashes, captured...

Why This Year's Taurids May Be Better Than Ever

Taurid's fireballs will be extra-enhanced by lack of full moon, dense debris field

(Newser) - Every year the Earth passes through the debris left behind by Comet Encke, and it's that time of year again, which means just one thing: Get ready for the fireballs. That's what you could see in the night sky over the next week or so as the Taurid...

Object 40077 'Belly Flops' Over Australia

Fireball was the third stage of Russia's Soyuz rocket

(Newser) - A few Australians might have assumed the worst last night as a truck-sized fireball raced across the sky. But it wasn't a meteorite spelling out Earth's doom—or the plane crash some feared on Twitter—but "object 40077," an ejected piece of Russia's Soyuz rocket,...

13 Die in Fiery Mexico Crash
 13 Die in Fiery Mexico Crash 
May 7, 2013 9:06 AM CDT

13 Die in Fiery Mexico Crash

Gas tanker driver lost control while speeding: reports

(Newser) - A gas tanker crashed in Mexico today, resulting in a giant fireball and killing at least 13 people; another 13 were injured. Two of those killed were children, says an official. The crash occurred on a highway in Mexico state near Mexico City, CNN reports. The tanker had been speeding...

Huge Meteor Misses East Coast
 Huge Meteor Misses East Coast 
Feb 16, 2011 4:45 AM CST

Huge Meteor Misses East Coast

Space rock caused rare daytime fireball

(Newser) - A meteor big enough to have ruined a lot of people's Valentine's Day streaked over the East Coast earlier this week, creating a rare daytime fireball. Large numbers of people from Connecticut to Philadelphia reported seeing the meteor, which by some accounts was as bright as the sun. Most meteorites...

What Was That Giant Fireball Over Midwest?

Blast lights up sky in several states

(Newser) - Scientists are scratching their heads after a giant fireball lit up the midwestern sky, then vanished. The fireball rattled homes and shook the earth as it streaked across the sky and apparently triggered a sonic boom. Scientists speculate the phenomenon, that also lit up police station phone lines, was a...

17 Stories