A meteor larger than a basketball passed through several states in the United States, making the sky as bright as daylight for about a second.
Jordan Ragsdale recorded a meteor flying in the sky at 10:52 p.m. on July 3 (local time) from his home in Eagle City, Idaho, United States. In the video, when he dives behind a cloud, it suddenly clears up, turning the sky from night to day in about a second.
The Montana Research Center (MLC) camera system also recorded when the meteorite flew over the state’s skies. The system can determine the meteorite’s trajectory through the atmosphere, predicting the speed, force, mass and trajectory of the meteorite before it hits Earth.
The July 3 meteorite flew at around 29,000 km / h and could be large enough for debris to fall to the ground. Experts do not currently know where they fell. “The small meteors we track are usually the size of a pebble. However, this one is bigger than a basketball,” said Ryan Hannahoe, CEO of MLC.
Thousands of meteors crash into Earth every day and become fireballs that light up the sky, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS). However, many cases go unnoticed, such as meteorites falling during the day or in the ocean.
