Holy Crap!! Did anyone else see that meteor today over the UK?

I've just got in, been working in a field all day setting up the Nuts in May festival,, but yeah, WOW!!

That bugger had to have landed!

EDIT: OK, I guess others seen it too

www.bbc.co.uk...

Double Edit: As far south as Devon? I'm in Cumbria, a few hundred miles north from Devon, it certainly travelled some distance!

North west here:

Sadly missed it, but many of my friends saw it over the night sky

reply to post by mr-lizard


I'm as north west as you can get before Scotland! Workington. Shame you missed it Mr Lizard, it was amazing!

I saw thins in gateshead when i was on my way to work it was stunning! It was also very odd. When i first spotted it it seemed to be traveling up like a like a fire work them seemed to change directing and come straight over head. It was massive And it didnt seem to break up either. It lost its tail and changed from yellowish to orange as it cooled slightly glad it was such a clear night

Many people are seeing meteors these past few days. I realize this is a common thing with a relatively low chance of causing any harm, but I think it's obvious the Earth is going thru some sort of field.

So gutted I missed this! My twitter is going nuts about it #meteor. It was spotted at 9.42pm here in NE Scotland.

I saw it and it was amazing. The thing that struck me the most about it was how powerful it looked, the speed and mass must have been massive. I was outside having a smoke and just saw it, majestic it was. At last, a reward for all that sky gazing I do.

I do wonder how it was not reported that it was going to happen, it was certainly big enough. I'm sure there's a good reason but can anyone who knows about these things comment on maybe why it was not picked up on radar before it hit our atmosphere?

yep, there was more then one i think everyone saw the biggest. theres another thread in alens&ufo's

I say it on the way to sainsburys to get beer before 10p.m.It was north west of me in the city centre.for the first time in 30 years of living here i actually saw a family outside our flats with a telescope!

Originally posted by MissJp
So gutted I missed this! My twitter is going nuts about it #meteor. It was spotted at 9.42pm here in NE Scotland.

bang on when i saw it.where in the north east are you?

So it was seen in the North East too? Bloody hell, someone mentioned earlier about Earth passing through some debris, without googling, I think you are correct, I read something similar a while back. Interesting times.

Originally posted by woogleuk
So it was seen in the North East too? Bloody hell, someone mentioned earlier about Earth passing through some debris, without googling, I think you are correct, I read something similar a while back. Interesting times.

I think it was seen all across the UK. As far south as Devon.

thelatestworldwidemeteorreports.blogspot.com...

newsblogged.com...

Videos on 2nd link


Slightly jealous, I bet it was an amazing sight

reply to post by mr-lizard


I have been watching the skies since the 80's, being in Cumbria, clear skies are a luxury we don't often get, to see something like that was a moment in heaven.

Hello woogle/all,

CHUD here. My account was hacked a month or so back and the mods made no effort to restore my old account, so I decided to make a new account.

I also missed out on seeing this one, but have been following the story since it broke last night.

Originally posted by drgood
I realize this is a common thing with a relatively low chance of causing any harm, but I think it's obvious the Earth is going thru some sort of field.

You may well be correct. It may be a late February Fireball.

Originally posted by 0rbital
I do wonder how it was not reported that it was going to happen, it was certainly big enough.

It may well have been as large as a double decker bus, but untill objects the size of this one get extremely close they are faint and difficult to spot through telescopes, and it's normal for us to not know anything about them till they hit the atmosphere. They are easily missed, but at the same time pose relatively little threat to us. Larger objects than this that do pose a potential threat due to their size are being found all the time, so the chances of global catastrophe due to one taking us by surprise is constantly diminishing.

Originally posted by wrighty338
yep, there was more then one i think everyone saw the biggest. theres another thread in alens&ufo's

There are meteors like this every other night somewhere in the world, but the description I read on the alens&ufo forum thread sounded more to me like lanterns than meteors to me.

Originally posted by Megatronus
It was also very odd. When i first spotted it it seemed to be traveling up like a like a fire work them seemed to change directing and come straight over head. It was massive And it didnt seem to break up either. It lost its tail and changed from yellowish to orange as it cooled slightly glad it was such a clear night

As I have long been saying here on ATS, meteors, especially bright (or "fireball" class meteors), can easily play tricks on the eyes. Appearances are often deceptive when it comes to meteors as I pointed out in this thread.

What I talked about in the thread I linked to above regarding the estimation of distance also applies to direction of travel, as well as actual or "true" velocity. These things are all quite hard for most people to judge in such cases, and even people who are experienced observers/who have studied the subject can only make educated guesses based on a single observation in some cases.

To address what you said above about the apparently odd course it took, the apparent course/heading of a meteor depends on two important things:

Firstly the angle of entry in relation to the earth/ground.

Secondly, the position of the observer (in this case you) in relation to the meteor - Perspective plays an important role in how we perceive direction.


If the angle of entry is steep, a meteor will generally appear to have a very short path (especially if seen close to or directly overhead), and usually they won't last too long since most objects are too fragile to withstand a steep entry.

If on the other hand, the object enters at a low angle, otherwise known as "grazing" the atmosphere, because of the reduced stresses and strains associated with type of atmospheric-entry, "earthgrazing" meteors as they are called often survive for much longer than their less fortunate "high angle" brothers and sisters. They will often last for many seconds and in some cases tens of seconds, making them both impressive and unmistakable.

Some reports have mentioned flight times in excess of 40 seconds, which would only be possible with a meteoroid/asteroid that has a low entry angle. The slowest meteoroids hit earth's atmosphere at speeds of around 10 km/s, so given that meteors become visible at altitudes of around 100km, even the slowest meteoroid entering at a very steep angle would have reached the ground after just 10 seconds (if it was big enough to survive), and we know from the reports that this was likely going much faster than 10 km/s (probably closer to 30 km/s).

If you are observing an earthgrazer from the right location on earth, so that the point at which it enters the atmosphere is over on the other side of and obstructed by the horizon, and that meteor happens to be heading roughly in your direction, it would appear to shoot upward (AKA shooting straight up like a firework), and then pass over head. It does not have to change direction at all to seem to do this, that is simply a trick of perspective.

For someone in another location, seeing the same meteor from a different perspective, the meteor might appear to shoot down from above - they would have to be observing from way further back up the path of the meteor in the North.

Consider this diagram It's exaggerated, but demonstrates what is going on:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/95efe8242439.jpg[/atsimg]

The green part of the meteor represents the start of the meteor or when it first became visible, as is often the case with fast meteors. The red lines represent the lines of sight of the observers. The upper/outer blue ring represents the upper part of the atmosphere where meteors first become visible.

If you are the observer (B), it will look to you like the meteor has fallen (downwards) just behind the mountain, but the observer (A) who is observing the same meteor from a few hundred miles from your location, and over the horizon will see something completely different. He/she would see the meteor apparently going up, and away from the horizon.

I hope that helps you (and others) understand a little more about what you saw the other night.

reply to post by FireballStorm


It was seen over a 300- 400 mile area definitely a low angle of entry.

I posted in another thread about the meteor. Sorry, I missed your thread.

Lets all just thank our lucky stars that there was no impact. (Or was there?)

Watched the reports on the sighting on the BBC news. The Police were inundated with phone calls from hundreds of UK citizens. Reporting the sighting of the meteorite.

I am just wondering though. What can the police do about it, shoot pea guns at it?

reply to post by Laurauk


From what I observed, and other sightings, I would be surprised if some it never landed. Given how far south it was seen though, it probably made a splash, sadly that means it would probably be lost.