Huge fireball “falls from the sky and crashes into a Chinese city”

Huge fireball “falls from the sky and crashes into a Chinese city”

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Huge fireball “falls from the sky and hits a Chinese county”, leaving residents stunned

  • A giant fireball was seen flashing in the sky today in Nangqian, China
  • Images show the burning sphere exploding and plummeting in the county
  • Local media suggested that the fast-moving object could be a very bright meteor
  • China’s earthquake official said a suspected bolide hit Earth at 7:25 am

By Billie Thomson for Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A giant fireball was seen crossing the sky and hitting a county in southern China.

Images taken by stunned residents show an unidentified object exploding in a burning sphere as it dives at high speed towards the earth.

It is not clear what the fireball is, but local media is suggesting the possibility of a very bright meteor. No victims were reported.

The giant fireball was seen flashing in the sky over Nangqian, China, this morning

The giant fireball was seen flashing in the sky over Nangqian in China this morning

Several clips on Chinese social media show the suspect meteor lighting up the sky

Several clips on Chinese social media show the suspect meteor lighting up the sky

Several clips on Chinese social media show the alleged meteor lighting up the sky as it falls in Nangqian County, in northwest China’s Qinghai province.

The incident was said to have occurred at about 7 am on Wednesday. Local residents reported hearing loud bangs.

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Weibo, similar to Twitter, captures the moment when the fireball flies through the darkness when seen by a passenger on a flight from Xi’an to Lhasa.

The incident would have occurred around 7 am on Wednesday

Local residents reported hearing loud bangs

The incident was said to have occurred around 7 am on Wednesday in northwest China.

Elsewhere in the footage, the burning object is seen descending rapidly towards hills and fields.

In a third clip, the fireball becomes brighter and larger as it approaches the ground.

Dan Ba, a local resident, said he witnessed the fireball while taking his son to school.

“It started very small, but three minutes later it became very big and bright,” the father told Pear Video.

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Weibo, similar to Twitter, captures the moment when the fireball flies through the darkness when seen by a passenger on a domestic flight

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Weibo, similar to Twitter, captures the moment when the fireball flies through the darkness when seen by a passenger on a domestic flight

Yu Jun, chief editor of the Chinese science website Guokr, told Beijing News that the fireball looked like a bolide, which is a very bright meteor.

The China Earthquake Networks Center said it recorded the incident. The official said through his social media account that a suspected bolide landed near the border between Nangqian County and Yusu County at 7:25 am.

The Nanxiang County government told Red Star News that it had heard of the matter, but did not know the details.

Explained: The difference between an asteroid, meteorite and other space rocks

THE asteroid it is a large piece of rock left over from collisions or from the beginning of the solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt.

AN comet it is a rock covered with ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits take them much further away from the solar system.

AN meteor is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when the debris burns.

This debris is known as a meteoroid. Most are so small that they are vaporized in the atmosphere.

If any of this meteoroid reaches Earth, it’s called meteorite.

Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites usually originate from asteroids and comets.

For example, if the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, many of the debris burns in the atmosphere, forming a meteor shower.

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