PEOPLE FROM THE top to bottom of Ireland have reported seeing a fireball over the country last night, but nobody is sure where it landed.
The fireball was reportedly seen from Donegal to Cork at around 10.10pm last night, lighting up the sky for a number of seconds.
These fireballs are caused when a large rock from space burns up in the atmosphere as it collides with Earth at speeds of the order of 100,000 mph, causing a huge explosion equivalent to thousands of tonnes of high-explosive.
David Moore from Astronomy Ireland says that parts of the meteor may have survived.
“This event was so bright that a piece or pieces may have survived the re-entry and landed as extremely rare and valuable meteorites” said David Moore.
“We are appealing to everyone who saw the fireball to fill in to online report form on Astronomy Ireland’s website as soon as possible while the details are fresh in their minds. In return we will send everyone our analysis of all the reports and where we think any meteorite may have landed.”
Moore says the the Irish Coast Guard at Valentia contacted Astronomy Ireland as they were receiving so many reports of possible distress flares.
Any companies who operate CCTV cameras are also being asked to check their recordings for Sunday night around 10:10pm to see if they recorded the fireball.
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