{"id":17341,"date":"2022-10-13T18:26:50","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T10:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/fireball-lights-up-the-skies-over-the-pacific-northwest-sparking-oohs-ahhs-and-lols\/"},"modified":"2022-10-13T18:26:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T10:26:50","slug":"fireball-lights-up-the-skies-over-the-pacific-northwest-sparking-oohs-ahhs-and-lols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/fireball-lights-up-the-skies-over-the-pacific-northwest-sparking-oohs-ahhs-and-lols\/","title":{"rendered":"Fireball lights up the skies over the Pacific Northwest, sparking oohs, ahhs and LOLs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A video shot looking out to the west from Jack Clemens\u2019 front porch in Seattle\u2019s West Queen Anne neighborhood shows a fireball lighting up the skies above. Clemens says the flash \u201cwoke me right up.\u201d (Image Courtesy of Jack Clemens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What was that flash in Wednesday night\u2019s skies? <\/p>\n

Westward-looking skywatchers in locales ranging from Oregon through Western Washington to British Columbia reported seeing a fireball light up the surroundings at 10:18 p.m. PT. And the reason we can time the event precisely is because of the timestamps on all the webcam videos that were posted to Twitter and YouTube.<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, that was insane,\u201d Michael Snyder, a weather watcher at Alaska Airlines who also maintains a YouTube channel called Pacific Northwest Weather Watch, said in a tweet. \u201cDead center screen, there had to be others that saw that monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed there were. Some observers took advantage of the night-sky to indulge in a little black humor about the Mariners\u2019 loss to the Astros in this week\u2019s baseball postseason playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeteor? Satellite? That Astros homer finally returning to Earth? (Sorry),\u201d Jack Clemens joked in a tweet.<\/p>\n

Speaking of sports, GeekWire co-founder John Cook was one of the observers who saw the flash at a soccer game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was facing west on the sideline of the GeekWire FC over-40 men\u2019s soccer game at Twin Ponds soccer field in Shoreline, when the bright ball appeared in the sky, followed by a multicolored tail,\u201d he said in an office Slack posting. \u201cDefinitely one of the brightest meteors I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kevin Freitas caught this video view of the fireball lighting up Seattle skies. (Image Courtesy of Kevin Freitas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The call from the referees \u2026 I mean, the experts \u2026 is that the fireball was indeed an exploding meteor, also known as a bolide.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeteor,\u201d Seattle\u2019s National Weather Service said in a one-word tweet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like a classic bolide,\u201d University of Washington astronomer Toby Smith said in an email after reviewing the video clips. \u201cMy quick search did not turn up any accounts of hearing a sonic boom, so it was likely a small object that burned up very high in the atmosphere. It will be interesting to see if CNEOS or GOES detected it. If they did, we will have some good data on the trajectory and size of the bolide.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you saw a brief, bright flash in the sky, file a fireball report on the American Meteor Society\u2019s website \u2014 and count your blessings. \u201cThe vast majority of fireballs are only visible for few seconds \u2026 seeing a fireball is extremely rare and often a once-in-a-lifetime event,\u201d the society says.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, webcam videos are forever. Here\u2019s a selection of sighting reports:<\/p>\n

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