Dashcam Video Catches A Giant Fireball Blazing Across The Oregon Sky
Reports of another fireball event came in from all over Oregon and Washington. The American Meteor Society (AMS) logged more than 130 reports of the fireball between 10:45pm and 11pm PDT, and estimated the meteor was moving on a northwestern trajectory and became visible somewhere above the Umpqua National Forest, around halfway between Eugene and Klamath Falls, Oregon. For most, the event lasted about five seconds, with most of the reported sightings being in cities and towns in the western half of Oregon.
According to the AMS, several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth’s atmosphere each day. However, the vast majority occur over the oceans and uninhabited regions, with many being masked by daylight. The organization adds dominant composition of a meteoroid plays an important role in the observed colors of a fireball, with certain elements displaying signature colors when vaporized. For example, nickel shows as green, sodium produces a bright yellow, and magnesium appears as blue-white.
“It was quick, it was fast, and it was green,” remarked Jim Todd, director of space science education at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Todd added, “Based on the video, it appears as a typical fireball, quick and bright.” Todd further explained that fireballs, such as the one Monday night, are typically caused by space rocks that enter Earth’s atmosphere, and are then slowed down and heated by friction.
William Cooke, spokesperson with the NASA Meteoroid Environments Office, remarked, “This meteor was not associated with any currently active meteor shower.” Cooke also dashed anyone’s hope of finding a meteorite from the event, adding, “Nothing survived to the ground, so no chance of finding meteorites.”
Anyone who may have seen or captured video of the fireball event are asked to contact the American Meteor Society at the AMS Fireball Log website.
