Close call in Chelyabinsk . . . !!!!!

[Steve Ward]

Nice footage . . .

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/meteor-shower-explodes-in-central-russia-and-urals-injuring-people/story-e6frfq80-1226578976770

http://video.news.com.au/2335307261/Meteorite-close-call?area=endslate1

[JB80]

Wow!

http://rt.com/news/m...helyabinsk-283/

series of explosions in the skies of Russia’s Urals region, reportedly caused by a meteorite shower, has sparked panic in three major cities. Witnesses said that houses shuddered, windows were blown out and cellphones have stopped working.

According to unconfirmed reports, the meteorite was intercepted by an air defense unit at the Urzhumka settlement near Chelyabinsk. A missile salvo reportedly blew the meteorite to pieces at an altitude of 20 kilometers.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Quite spectacular. Hope the injured recover soon

[AndyH]

Just wow !!

Thank goodness this didn't happen at the height of the cold war. Sweaty fingers hovering over red buttons might have started to get twitchy !!

[Robny]

Stunned!

Was the meteor unexpected?

[Monty]

I find it extremely difficult to believe a defense system from any country could intercept a meteor at the speeds involved. Most missile systems max out at around mach 3.5

[Steve Ward]

Too many news teams watching too many dodgy Hollywood offerings methinks . . .

[Robny]

There is another thread called 'firenall', sorry can't link I'm on my phone. Where a member reported seeing something in the Zenith very late early this morning, could be related???

[Robny]

Sorry was supposed to say 'fireball' my thumbs are to fat for the phone!

[harpic]

That is SPECTACULAR!

[Cath]

If it is connected with tonites asteroid then their could be more fragments on their way.

Cool!

Glad no one was seriously hurt.

[JB80]

It's been updated now to over 250 injured. Hopefully no serious injuries amongst them.

[cotterless45]

LeeB saw a fireball break up in the east around midnight while I was putting away my ota, grrrrrr!

Might have been a bit of this,

Nick.

[AndyH]

Hope no one was working in that factory at the time. Looks like the middle of it has gone.

[Mikea]

Natural object I wonder, or a bit of space junk? But then NASA is pretty good at tracking space junk.

[AndyH]

To put a scope twist on the geography- Halfway between Intes-Micro and Tal factories?

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

fantastic to see ,and as others have said we hope the injured recover soon, apart from that i know we track asteroids but what about

meteor,s.

steve

[AndyH]

Give it time and the online tabloids will be saying it's the end of the world, what with the big chap passing nearby this evening.

[JB80]

400 injured now.

[Spec-Chum]

Just seen this on BBC News. Wow.

I feel sorry for those injured tho

[AndyH]

400 injured now.

Not good.

[dave1978]

Incredible footage as it came in http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=152_1360906606

The brightness is amazing, the second video especially as its almost head on to the camera, bet the driver was worried.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=79e25c071713" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JB80]

RT has live updates here.

http://rt.com/news/r...helyabinsk-291/

: Oleg Malkov, an aerospace scientist at Moscow State University, told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that the meteorite went undetected by space scanners, likely because it was coming from the direction of the Sun. "We can only register stones coming from the direction of the night sky," he explained. Malkov confirmed that the meteor shower in the Urals was not connected to the 2012DA14 asteroid that will approach Earth in a few hours.

[AndyH]

I was initially excited by the footage, but that's now changed to concern for the injured and the wellbeing of the locals. No windows and -14C are a bad combo

Not good. Not good at all.

[Nibor]

My thoughts are with the injured but what an amazing event to witness - folk must have wondered what the heck it was. Great presence of mind to capture it on what looks like a mobile phone. I understand many cars in Russia are fitted with dashboard cameras for insurance purposes.

Lets hope the emergency services can quickly find and help all those in need - it appears to be desperately cold out there.