Mystery of the glowing orb: Bizarre fireball that splits in two could be a meteorite burning up in Earth's atmosphere
- Strange fireball was spotted by commuter Ken Roberts as he drove home
- American Meteor Society received 1,500 fireball sightings in the past week
- UFO experts say the bright orb flying in the opposite direction is 'peculiar'
- Sighting has sparked speculation that it may be a UFO or aircraft crashing
- Fireball may have also been a meteorite breaking apart in the atmosphere
A
mysterious glowing orb has been filmed breaking away from an
unidentified meteorite-like object as it streaked across the sky above
California.
The
unusual object can be seen moving through the sky leaving a long tail
behind that is characteristic of space debris or a meteorite burning up
in the atmosphere.
But after a few seconds a second round object separates from the main fireball and moves off in the opposite direction.
UFO hunters have claimed the bright orb may have been some sort of escape pod from a crashing ship.
However, others have said it is more likely to have been a meteorite breaking apart in the atmosphere.
There have been several sightings of meteorite fireballs in the US over the past week, with many reports coming from California.
The past couple of days have also seen astronomers enjoying the peak of the annual Quadrantids meteor shower.
The fireball was spotted by Ken Roberts while he was driving home from work in southern California.
He said: 'I was driving home after work when this UFO or whatever you call it caught my eye.
'I
pulled over in front of somebody's house to film it. I would have got a
better shot but I didn't want to jump these people's fence.
'Anyway
I don't know what the hell to make of it. Couldn't have been a plane
cause there was no noise. And I never heard a crash after either.
'The Orb thing flew straight up into the sky and disappeared.'
He
posted the video on YouTube on Monday evening but did not say when or
where the footage had been filmed, other than the general area of
California.
‘I think it could be something re-entering and bits coming off it,’ said Ben Biggs, editor of All About Space magazine.
‘However, if it was a big spacecraft then we’d probably know about it.
‘Could
it be a meteorite? It’s a bit slow to be one as they normally travel
much faster through the atmosphere, although we are at the peak of the
Quadrantids meteor shower.
‘It
could also simply be some clever photoshop, especially considering
there don’t seem to be any other videos of the event which would surely
have been seen by many people.
'Also,
California is right next to Nevada, home of the top secret base inside
Area 51. There's always a chance that this is some military project gone
awry.'
Reports of a fireball above California were received by the American Meteor Society on 3 January 2015
The
video shows around 30 seconds of footage of the UFO before cutting off
abruptly and showing a black screen for the final two minutes.
According to the UFO news site OpenMinds, the smaller orb breaking away from the main fireball is 'peculiar'.
It said: 'The smaller orb UFO in this video behaves differently than typical meteorite debris.'
According to the American Meteor Society, there have been several reports of meteorites across the US over the past week.
It
received more than 1,500 eyewitness accounts - mainly in New York but
some as far away as Maine and California - of a bright fireball passing
through the sky on 29 December.
The
society also said it has also received 17 reports from eyewitnesses in
northern California of a fireball in the sky on 3 January.
Eyewitnesses reported briefly seeing a fireball (top right) in the skies above New York on 29 December 2014
Mike
Hankey, from the American Meteor Society, said: 'This video looks fake.
It was published on Jan 5th and we had no reports of fireballs in
southern california on Jan 5th or Jan 4th.'
One eyewitness calling themselves Subramanian N described the fireball as having a green colour.
They said: 'I saw a secondary little fireball (very light) at the time of maximum brightness of the first fireball.'
Others reported seeing a small flash as the fireball faded from view.
One said: 'Some fragments seemed to emanate from the tail as it fell.'
One
man from Eagen, Minnesota, reported seeing what he thought was a
satellite in the sky that appeared to break into two objects.
Writing
on UFO website Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), he said: 'As the object came
next to the moon there was an extremely brief flash from its right side
and a momentary trail and secondary object, that looked like a
yellow/green fireball slightly larger than the first object, as if shot
out or ejected, was observed for less than a second.
'The primary light continued on its straight path for another second or two and then disappeared.
'I
am unsure if what I observed and laid out in my narrative is what
happened or if some light phenomenon caused by the satellite passing by
the brilliantly lit half moon created an effect that I saw.'
However,
some commentators have have questioned whether the latest video is
genuine and may have been digitally edited after filming.
The annual Quandratid Meteor Shower
(seen here above Banff National Park, Canada) reached its peak on Monday
and may be responsible for the increase in sightings of fireballs and
meteorites in recent days
Mr Roberts did not respond to questions put to him by the MailOnline.
His
YouTube account contains only one other video that was uploaded on the
same day as the UFO video and claims to be a film of seagulls in New
York.
Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigation Manual, said regardless of what it was, the video has got UFO believers excited.
He
said: 'This could be a meteor or space junk crashing back to Earth, but
what the so-called 'white orb' leaving it has certainly got UFO
believers excited.
'They wonder if it is an escape pod being ejected from a crashing UFO.
'At
first it just looks like something falling out of the trail of the
object, but it carries on under its own power rather than falling away
as you might expect.
'It makes me wonder if it is a completely different object that just looks as if it is coming out of this fireball trail.
'Whatever
these events are, they are very unusual even if they are not flying
saucers occupied by little green men plunging to Earth in a spectacular
fashion.'
Giles
Sparrow, a space and astronomy journalist, said that while unusual, the
orb was probably part of a meteorite fireball breaking apart as it
entered the atmosphere.
He said: 'It's almost certainly a fireball breaking apart in the upper atmosphere.
'These things have been floating about in space for billion of years, and their interiors are very, very cold.
'They
formed from dust grains clumping together in the solar system, and
often have cracks and weak spots that can break them apart when their
surfaces suddenly heat up - it just so happens that in this case, the
crack was in the right place enough to send a large fragment flying off
in the other direction.'
He
added that the fireball appears to be moving slowly across the sky due
to perspective it is filmed from and because of the time of day it was
filmed.
He
said: 'Meteoroids approaching Earth's 'trailing' hemisphere as it moves
through space have to 'catch up' with our planet before they enter the
atmosphere.'
Nick
Howes, Pro-Am coordinator at the Faulkes Telescope Project, added:
'I'd guess a re-entry of some space junk if I were a betting man.
'It's
burning up in the upper atmosphere, indicating a high velocity, it does
appear to be moving "slowly" which may be due to the angle from which
footage was taken.'
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