A huge ball of fire lit up the skies of Japan – BGR

• A piece of space debris fell to Earth over Japan on Sunday morning, illuminating the night sky with a bright flash.
• The fireball was only visible for a brief moment or two, but it caught the attention of many onlookers.
• The fireball, or bolide, was likely completely destroyed on its journey through Earth’s atmosphere.

One of the things about living on Earth – or any planet, I suppose – is that you never know when an object from space will make a spontaneous appearance in the sky. For people in a large area of ​​western and central Japan, Sunday morning was one of those times. In the still dark hours of the morning, a ball of fire appeared in the sky and produced a flash so bright it rivaled a full moon, according to witnesses.

As Kyodo News reports, the fireball appeared around 1:35 am local time on Sunday morning. Despite the late hour, there were many people who managed to catch a glimpse of the object crossing the sky before flashing brightly and lighting up the landscape.

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Many social media users quickly posted on the bright flash, with some managing to capture images or videos of the fireball in the few seconds it was visible. A video shows the descent, lightning and fizzle-out of the fireball from start to finish. The video, shown below as part of a news broadcast, shows how incredibly bright the fireball (or “fireball” as they are known) flashed as it flowed through Earth’s atmosphere.

It’s a really brilliant fireball, but the visuals aren’t the only thing produced by the falling piece of space material. According to some witnesses, the fireball produced a “rumbling” sound.

A fireball is a piece of space rock that comes too close to Earth and is attracted by the gravitational pull of our planet. As it rolls in the atmosphere, the friction is too intense for the object to survive. It catches fire, producing a streak across the sky, and the bright flash you see usually occurs when the object breaks into small pieces and is incinerated. It is normal for no debris to be found from such objects, but hearing something from them is a rare pleasure.

When these fireballs come close to the ground, they can explode, creating a boom that can be powerful enough to damage structures. Russia, in particular, has been involved in some of these types of explosions on populated areas. There was no indication that this fireball – which, despite the intense light show it produced, was likely the result of a relatively small object – exploded this way, but the fact that a rumbling was reported it is somewhat unusual for such a sighting.

Mike Wehner has been reporting on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones and the technology of the future. Most recently, Mike worked as a Tech Editor at The Daily Dot and has appeared on USA Today, Time.com, and countless other websites and in print. His love of the news is second only to his addiction to games.