Campos dos Goytacazes, Brasil - Bolide, or possible space junk caught on camera

Here is one report, which has been translated:

At approximately 23:20 pm, the day on April 21, a meteor was seen passing over the city of Campos dos Goytacazes Southwest to the Northeast according to recent reports of people who saw the fireball, probably lasting over 10segundos and very bright. More information when more reports are received.

Source: lunarmeteoritehunters


Here's another:

David William and Octavius, I saw just now, at 23 hrs something strange across the skies. A foreign object, whose shape could not identify. He had speed like that of a plane, but had a long flaming tail in the opposite direction of its trajectory. It may be silly, but if anyone else reporting something, that it is my testimony here recorded

Only a few reports have surfaced so far, but already there are reports that people had trouble identifying the object, which is normal in my experience with reports of fireballs in general, whether man made or natural. See the thread I started here for some examples and discussion on the subject: How good are we at estimating the distance and altitude of UFOs?

In this case, there seems to be a chance that it was a junk reentry:

Type: Centaur R/B
Int'l Designation: 1985-087B
Launched: 28 SEP 1985 @ 0115 UTC
Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LC-36A
Mission: Intelsat 512

Reentry Prediction:

Predicted Reentry Time: 20 APR 2012 05:21 UTC ± 2 hours
Prediction Epoch: 19 APR 2012 22:42:15.520 UTC
Prediction Ground Track:

Source: reentrynews.aero.org

I'm not convinced though. Reentries are usually relatively slow affairs, where as this appeared to be quite pacey. My best "educated" guess is that this was a natural meteor.



Here are some examples of reentries for comparison:

NASA UARS SATELLITE REENTRY FIREBALL 24TH SEPTEMBER 2011


NASA DC-8 Team Captures Hayabusa Spacecraft Reentry


Russian satellite Meridian re-entry




And here are some examples of natural meteors:

The Great Lakes daylight fireball of 1972


The recent NZ fireball


The recent UK fireball


Another video of the UK fireball



Related links:
The American Meteor Society Fireball FAQs

reply to post by FireballStorm

Hey now... excellent presentation. At first I thought to skip on by, but got captured by each of the videos that you dug and presented here for member review. I was enthralled, haven't seen most of them before now. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and present it to ATS.

Studying these kinds of films helps to better understand when others bring footage of phenomena for review. There is so much of it, its cool when someone selects some of the better ones like you have done. This is an older one but thought I would add as well. About 30 seconds in:


Thanks our lucky stars that these type don't drop in for a visit. (Big Big)

reply to post by intrptr


Thanks for dropping in and for the kind words intrptr,

Glad you enjoyed the presentation.

If I would have had more time I would have dug out more footage/links - there is/are lots out there, but it was getting late (again!).

I'm not sure if you realized or not, but the footage you posted is of that same event in 1972 that I also posted footage of, but from a different camera/angle. Either way, thanks for posting the clip

Some more info on the 1972 event can be found on this fireball/image database, along with other events: Meteorite Action!

To update the topic at hand, another short clip of the object seen over Brazil has surfaced:

reply to post by FireballStorm

You mean this one?

Wow, missed that. It does indeed claim to be the same one. I totally didn't know there were other angles of this apartment complex sized iron nugget. I remember when this first was announced. It was THE event from space that first inspired my interest in the cosmos. Thing was really moving. In the video you brought it appears to cross the terminator from dark to light in mere moments.

Here is another angle. In the original grainy footage you see a little more of the meteor. You really get a feel of relative velocity as it breaks out of the clouds...


You are right. There are a lot of videos these days. Thanx again for the links.

reply to post by intrptr


Yes, that's the one.

I posted that clip, rather than the well known clip which you posted, since I only came across it myself a year or two ago, so I figured it would be better to post footage that most people have likely not come across - glad I did

I was a bit too young to have heard of the event at the time, but I'm sure it would have had the same effect on me had I seen it in my youth.

Instead, what got me interested was a catching "feak" Leonid "fireball storm" in 1998, which caught everyone by surprise, including me. Up till that point I had only seen perhaps a handful of "shooting stars", so I was totally unprepared when I looked at the sky and saw fireball after fireball, some of them bright enough to light up the surrounding houses like it was daylight. I was glued to the sky for between 7-6 hrs, and the closer it got to dawn, the more intense it got. I also got to see my first daylight fireballs that same morning.

When I turned on the news at about 8am, they were saying that they had received dozens of UFO reports that morning. Luckily I was aware that the Leonid peak was expected, so I figured what I was seeing must have been Leonids.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand - New footage of the Brazil event has surfaced. It's well worth a look, as you can clearly see the object break into 3 distinct and evenly sized pieces! Amazing!

reply to post by FireballStorm

Yah that was cool. Much better resolution on the breakup. I even began to wonder if it was from space or man made? I don't know what the consensus is, I haven't been keeping up. Missed that shower you saw, even though I was living outdoors at the time. (grrrr). Hey if you bring more of these kinds in the future ping me would you? I dig watching this stuff.

regards,

intrptr

Originally posted by intrptr
Yah that was cool. Much better resolution on the breakup. I even began to wonder if it was from space or man made? I don't know what the consensus is, I haven't been keeping up.

It can be hard to tell the difference. I posted examples that support my case, but there are man made reentries that look as though they could be natural and vice versa.

On balance though, I would say it looks more natural.

If it had been a reentry, chances are someone would have confirmed it by now, and reentries are less common that natural fireballs, so chances are better that it was natural.

Originally posted by intrptr
Missed that shower you saw, even though I was living outdoors at the time. (grrrr).

Most people did as well, which is possibly why it's not easy to find references to it now. Also, and I'm assuming you were in north America at the time, by the time it had got dark there, the storm was already winding down. It was pure luck that I happened to be in the right place, at the right time.

Originally posted by intrptr
Hey if you bring more of these kinds in the future ping me would you? I dig watching this stuff.

I'm always on the lookout for footage/photos of meteors (I often try to photograph meteor showers myself), so I'll be happy to let you know if I come across anything.

reply to post by FireballStorm

Also, and I'm assuming you were in north America at the time, by the time it had got dark there, the storm was already winding down. It was pure luck that I happened to be in the right place, at the right time.

Yah and yah. But the papers the next day printed stories of people seeing slooow green(?) fireballs trailing all the way to the horizon. Biggest event here in my memory. Thats why the (grrrr), I missed it.

I saw the most unique entry as a boy over silicon alley. I was sitting on my curb pre dusk and suddenly this long white streak, bright white, streeeeetched out overhead. It began to slowly yaw and turn over in its track. And then it bounced (yes it bounced) like a stone skipping on a pond. A shower of sparks occurred right there. The single solid object continued for a bit and bounced again, hard. On the third bounce it exploded and disappeared, raining little hot sparks that slowly dimmed to orange and then disappeared. Little puffs of white smoke and trailers were visible for a little while after. It wasn't a very big chunk I guess but being directly overhead I caught a really cool show from a meteor.

To this day I wished I had triangulated the bits as they rained down and tried to find them. I knew how to do that back then from my experience building Estes model rockets. For a long time after I sat and listened to hear any "reports", but I didn't. Totally cool.

Originally posted by intrptr
Yah and yah. But the papers the next day printed stories of people seeing slooow green(?) fireballs trailing all the way to the horizon. Biggest event here in my memory. Thats why the (grrrr), I missed it.

Ahh yes... they would have been Leonid earth grazers (scroll down towards the bottom of the page).

Green and long since they would have been skimming the "outer edge" of the atmosphere, where it just so happens that oxygen is the most prevalent gas at the altitude at which meteors become visible at, and when a meteor traveling fast enough hits an atom of oxygen, the oxygen is ionized, in the process emitting radiation corresponding to the green part of the visible spectrum.

Here's a paper on the subject: The photographed colours of Leonid meteors

In 2001 I/we also saw Leonid grazers, although they would not have been as bright as the "fire-grazers" seen in North/South America in 98.

I even managed to photograph one of the shorter Leonid grazers that we observed while the Leonid radiant was rising at the start of the night.

.

Some of the longer grazers I remember from that night went almost from horizon to horizon, although not all stayed green. There was one fireball grazer that started out green (as most did/do), and ended up the deepest red colour I ever remember seeing in a meteor.

If you observe any meteor shower when the radiant is close to the horizon, there's a chance you may see a grazer or two. They are not that common, so you have to be patient, but if you put in enough observing time at the right times, then it's only a matter of time before you'll see them.

It helps if raters are high or there is an outburst/storm in progress, but try observing the Perseids (the peak is @ 13:19 UT 13 August this year, and the nights either side of the peak are worth trying too) as soon as the sun is below the horizon. The Perseid radiant will have already risen above the horizon at this time, but still be low enough for fairly long grazers, although perhaps not grazers that go from horizon to horizon.

I've never seen a green Perseid grazer, although green is commonly seen in Perseid meteors, but I have seen some very nice bronze Perseid grazers/semi-grazers in the past. That might have something to do with the relative speed of the Perseid meteors, 64 km/s vs 72 km/s for the Leonids, Since the Leonids are faster, they push more of the oxygen ions over the energy threshold needed for oxygen to emit green light.

Originally posted by intrptr
I saw the most unique entry as a boy over silicon alley. I was sitting on my curb pre dusk and suddenly this long white streak, bright white, streeeeetched out overhead. It began to slowly yaw and turn over in its track. And then it bounced (yes it bounced) like a stone skipping on a pond. A shower of sparks occurred right there. The single solid object continued for a bit and bounced again, hard. On the third bounce it exploded and disappeared, raining little hot sparks that slowly dimmed to orange and then disappeared. Little puffs of white smoke and trailers were visible for a little while after. It wasn't a very big chunk I guess but being directly overhead I caught a really cool show from a meteor.

To this day I wished I had triangulated the bits as they rained down and tried to find them. I knew how to do that back then from my experience building Estes model rockets. For a long time after I sat and listened to hear any "reports", but I didn't. Totally cool.

It must have been impressive to see.

The "bounces" that you describe sound like points at which the object disintegrated, not necessarily due to the object bouncing off anything, although that may be indicative of hitting a layer of atmosphere that is more dense, or just the forces acting on the meteoroid building up to the point at which "something has to give". It may have been a junk reentry that you saw, from the sound of your description. If it was very slow, long lived, and crossed a large part of the sky, chances are it was.

Originally posted by FireballStorm

The "bounces" that you describe sound like points at which the object disintegrated, not necessarily due to the object bouncing off anything, although that may be indicative of hitting a layer of atmosphere that is more dense, or just the forces acting on the meteoroid building up to the point at which "something has to give". It may have been a junk reentry that you saw, from the sound of your description. If it was very slow, long lived, and crossed a large part of the sky, chances are it was.

It looked exactly like a stone skipping on a pond. It was screaming. The impression I have to this day is that it was a meteor, not space junk. Way to fast and way to violent an entry.

These grazers can traverse unusually long paths through the atmosphere because they are skimming horizontally through less dense portions of air , rather than penetrating downward to denser layers. These meteors are quite spectacular to observe and can occasionally cover more than 100 degrees of arc for an observer below.

From your link. That sums it up for me. Bigger of course. And white hot. The neat thing was how it yawed and turned in its track just before the first "bounce". Thanks for the links and run down about the meteor showers. Perseid, Aug 13th? Being there.

Originally posted by intrptr
It looked exactly like a stone skipping on a pond. It was screaming. The impression I have to this day is that it was a meteor, not space junk. Way to fast and way to violent an entry.

If it was fast, then I'd agree, it could not have been junk. Sounds like you saw a nice grazer then.

Originally posted by intrptr
Perseid, Aug 13th?

The peak is on the 13th, yes. It would be some time after dawn for you, but since Perseid peaks are not very sharp like many meteor showers, rates will usually stay quite high for a good few hours either side of the predicted peak time.

That's useful since the time for Perseid earthgrazers is after sun set, so you should get two reasonably good opportunities to catch some on the 12th and the 13th. The 11th might be worth a try too, but rates will likely not be as high as the 12th/13th, and there is a sharper drop in rates after the 13th than the build up, which is more gradual, so the 14th probably isn't going to be as good a bet

Have a look at the activity profiles from previous years, and you'll see what I mean: The International Meteor Organization - Live ZHR graphs

I'm not sure how experienced you are observing meteor showers, or your situation, but I'd encourage you to find a good location, well away from any light pollution, and with as wide open views as possible (especially to the east), to observe from.

Take a sleeping bag or two - you want to be flat on your back, your feet pointing west, and (fir the first couple of hours) looking slightly behind you (east), as that's where the grazers will first become visible - you should just be able to keep the eastern horizon in your peripheral vision with out getting too bent out of shape or uncomfortable.

That way, if you get any long grazers going directly over head, you should be able to follow them easily.

If you choose to carry on observing through the night, the best rates are usually just before dawn, when the radiant is highest in the sky, and of course on the 13th, the rates should reach their peak just a little after sunrise, so even though they won't be grazers, you should still get a good display..

It could be anywhere from 60-200 per hour @ peak, and usually there are at least a few fireball class meteors, which often leave long duration or persistent trains very much like those "wisps of smoke" that you described.

Of course, you have to hope that the weather cooperates/or drive to clear skies if possible. Your worst enemy is cloud. Having multiple target nights to observe increases your chances of catching at least one clear night.

Hope you catch a few good ones. If not, there will be other opportunities in the future. Keep an eye on this forum for meteor shower threads.

I almost forgot...

The word on the meteorite list is that the Brazil event was probably a natural meteor, and the hunt for meteorites is on:

FROM THE VIDEOS, IT APPEARS THAT IT WAS A GENUINE, VERY SLOW AND
EARTH-GRAZING PEEKSKILL-LIKE METEOR ENTERING UNDER A SHALLOW ANGLE.
POTENTIALLY A DROPPER, AS FRAGMENTATION IS EVIDENT ON ONE OF THE VIDEO'S.
THIS EVENT DOES NOT COINCIDE WITH THE RE-ENTRY OF SOME SPACE JUNK FROM A
CENTAUR ROCKET, AS SOME HAD ORIGINALLY THOUGHT.

meteorite-list

However, like the recent UK event which was also a grazer, I wouldn't hold out too much hope for any fragments being recovered since it's difficult to narrow down the area where meteorites may have fallen sufficiently for a search to be viable when it comes to grazers - think of a shotgun being fired horizontally vs one being fired at a 90 degree angle straight down into the ground. The spread/fall pattern of pellets on the ground will be at opposite ends of the spectrum in each case. .