Rabu, 25 April 2012

Huge fireball and explosion across California and Nevada as meteor breaks up over Sierra Nevada

Huge fireball and explosion across California and Nevada as meteor breaks up over Sierra Nevada

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 16:03 EST, 22 April 2012 | UPDATED: 12:18 EST, 25 April 2012

A photograph of the flaming meteor that exploded over Sierra Nevada with a powerful sonic boom has been released by NASA.

The boom of the space rock as it disintegrated rattled houses in both California and Nevada and it released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion.

The meteor entered the earth's atmosphere around 8am on Sunday somewhere over California's Central Valley.

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The boom of the meteor as it disintegrated rattled houses in both California and Nevada and it released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion

The boom of the meteor as it disintegrated rattled houses in both California and Nevada and it released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion

The red bullseye indicates the location where Sunday's meteor exploded over California's Central Valley

The red bullseye indicates the location where Sunday's meteor exploded over California's Central Valley

According to space.com, several witnesses initially thought they had experienced an earthquake.

Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, told MSNBC: 'An event of this size might happen about once a year. But most of them occur over the ocean or an uninhabited area, so getting to see one is something special.'

The sound of the explosion prompted a flood of calls to law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Sierra Nevada in the two states.

The explosion rattled windows and shook houses from Reno to Winnemucca in Nevada, and from the Sacramento to Bakersfield areas in California.

When debris enters the atmosphere it creates explosions similar to the sonic boom of a fast-moving aeroplane, according to meteorologists.

There were no reports of earthquakes or other seismic activity at the time.

Strike: A meteor has caused this massive fireball in the Sierra Nevada

Strike: A meteor has caused this massive fireball in the Sierra Nevada

Asteroid speeding towards Earth Earth from Space

Asteroid speeding towards Earth Earth from Space (file photo)

Jenae Neu told RGJ.com: 'I was outside my apartment and saw a huge bright thing in the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw a huge bright ball with some sort of tail.

'It looked like it was about 100 yards away and it only lasted about two seconds before it went behind a hill that's close to my place. It was like nothing I've ever seen. It was crazy.'

A police officer reported seeing a 'weird, multi-coloured comet, sparking and streaking toward the ground'.

Last weekend was a time of heightened meteor activity, as the Lyrid meteor shower was visible from Earth.

The shower comes around once a year, and tends to peak on April 22.

It is caused by the passage of Comet Thatcher, which leaves debris in its wake as it passes the Earth at a distance of m ore than 80million miles.

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

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Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of THOR!

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Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of THOR!

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"aliens"

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That's a meteor? Really? Are you sure that's not North Korea's rocket?

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Am I the only one to think it looks much more like a ballistic missile than a meteor in the photos. Probably an experiment that went wrong from Area 51 and they self-destructed it... - Stuart Robb, St Albans, UK, 23/4/2012 10:54

No, I'm sure a lot of tinfoil hat wearing UK conspiracy theorists think just like you. Apparently nature ceased to exist around 20 years ago, and now everything from astroids to eartquakes to hurricanes to volcanoes erupting to famine, to tsunamis are now all caused by the US government.

This of course means that the US now controls the entire planet, so you had best start bowing to us.

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Saw similar a couple of months ago. Spectacular, apparently not uncommon this time of year.

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It looks like a missle...

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I was having coffee at my house in South Lake Tahoe when the "explosion" occurred. I've been in earthquakes, in or near vehicle impacts, and suffer the regular avalanche blasts from the ski resorts. None were anywhere near as massive as this. Huge blast followed by strong rumbling, shaking the windows and seemingly the ground itself. I thought for sure one of the big casino buildings was brought down by a disgruntled gambler. -scary

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Its Iran testing a rocket, they want to make sure it reaches before they put a warhead on it.

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DM, your "file photo" of a speeding "asteroid" is actually an artists impression, isn't it? Speeding asteroids, or any other rocky body, don't leave bright tails unless being heated by friction.

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