Fireball over Cardiff - anyone else just see it?

[AstroJOE]

Driving through Cardiff about 5mins ago I saw a bright fireball in the sky at precisely 6.30pm.

Seemed to be traveling straight down and was due south. Lit up the sky quite brightly for about 3 seconds.

Anyone else in the area see it?

James

[Bibliovegan]

At about 6.30pm I saw something which might be the same as what you are describing.  I was actually upstairs facing a window.  From north to south, what I initially thought was a very bright firework went over.  Matter of 4/5 seconds only.  Slight greenish tinge.  It was the biggest "shooting star" I've ever seen - massive compared with e.g. the Geminids.  Never seen a fireball before so can't comment.  It was unmissable.  Had it been nearer November I might have dismissed it as a rogue greenish firework with no end explosion.  I'm in Wiltshire.

[Dandan]

Seen heading north to south over Dartford at 6:30 bright blue green 1st post because I wondered if anyone else had seen it !!!!

[Hypernova]

Saw exactly the same fireball just after half 6 from shrewsbury. I had just left a house on my motorcycle after picking up some parts and saw the meteor dropping down through orion to the south. It was partially blocked by trees abs I initially thought it was a firework but immediately recognised it for what it was. I saw what I thought was fragmentation as it descended straight down and it lasted 5 seconds or so abs was quite a bit brighter than venus.

[AndyM]

Myself and my two sons saw this from the Blandford  area at 6.30. Certainly gave us all the "wow" factor! I've only ever seen one other fireball before, this one was much brighter. As Hypernova said, we saw what appeared to be fragmentation, but all three of us thought we saw it flash bright orange at that point. Whatever colour it was, it was impressive!

[skyrider1]

Hi

Seen from southampton at 6 30pm viewed from over head as it raced down past the right hand side of Orion . Truly amazing sight it had a vivid white core with a long orangey yellow trail in its wake . The first fire ball I have seen I wish every one could have seen it a fabulous sight .

[skyrider1]

Hi

Seen from southampton at 6 30pm viewed from over head as it raced down past the right hand side of Orion . Truly amazing sight it had a vivid white core with a long orangey yellow trail in its wake . The first fire ball I have seen I wish every one could have seen it a fabulous sight .

[UFOATTACK]

Saw the same green fireball over Epping, Essex  tonight at 6:30pm as well. This is the first fireball we have seen and only saw it because we decided to go shopping tonight instead of tomorrow!! It moved across towards the South to South Eastish direction and we observed it from our car in which we were heading roughly towards the South. Amazing!!

[AstroJOE]

Amazing!!! I'm so chuffed I wasn't the only one to see it....

Like others have said I initially thought it might be a stray firework but I immediately realised it was far to big...... started off bright white then from where I was it seemed to turn bright orange with a tail and a lighter hazy glow around it.....not sure if this was due to a very thin layer of cloud in the sky at the time acting like a filter?

It lasted 3 or 4 seconds. I've just checked Google Maps for the direction of the road I was travelling on (City Road for the benefit of anyone local to me) and it was actually South, South East rather than due South I think.

My brother-in-law was in the car with me and he saw it as well. I've never seen anything like it before but all these other sightings at the same time from various parts of Sothern UK make me think it must have been a fireball....

Anyone else?

[craigdsmith]

Great read. Travelling home from London on Thursday evening around 8.30pm saw a bright meteor pass through orion. It was really bright got a good luck as my friend was driving.

[Mr Bond]

I saw the same green "fireball" from up here in Yorkshire. Low in the south, heading left and down (obviously!), at 45 degrees. Pronounced colour green.

Very impressive. Happened at 18:30, 15/2/14.

Wife "twittered" it, we are not alone in seeing it!!

[Russko13]

I'm disappointed I didn't see this I was out the back about then in cardiff I may have been viewing the moon or had my head in my star maps

[Spamula55]

I was coming back from the shop and saw this! I thought it was incredible. I couldn't get in quick enough to tell my family and have been looking on the news ever since. Then I found this today and was so pleased I wasn't the only one who saw it. It was huge. I was told it could of been a flare but I live in East Anglia and obviously this was seen all over. It was 18.30 on the 15/02/2014.Amazing sight. So pleased I witnessed it.

[AstroJOE]

Been searching the internet all day for other reports of this - found a thread on a weather forum earlier with several entries supporting the above observations but I can't find it now.....typical!

However I've just found numerous reports of the same object on the Armagh Observatory Website http://arpc65.arm.ac.uk under their 'Fireballs Reports' section..... A couple of the observers have recorded the time a little later than 6.30pm but the majority all seem to agree it was at 6.30pm. Here's what others have written...

Fireball Reports

Here are the results of your search for 15-Feb-2014

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  1850
• Location:
  Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, Helston Cornwall
• Report:
  Facing SW, I saw what i thought was a shooting star but it came out of clouds with bases around 2000ft. It was heading out to sea, and was in flight for 3-4 seconds before breaking up, i don't think it hit the water. whilst in flight it was as bright as a flare. There weren't any aircraft in the air and it wasn't a flare. I didn't hear any noise, but it wasn't something i'd seen before. Regards, Chris.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  Around 6.30pm
• Location:
  Gloucester
• Report:
  A mass of greeny yellow light just shooting down to the ground, I was facing south and it was going south to north and disappeared behind building opposite and was very bright saw it for about 3 seconds.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  1840
• Location:
  West Wittering, West Sussex
• Report:
  We were right on the coast when overhead we saw a ball of orange intense colour like flames with a long white tail behind it. It seemed as if it was flying very low in the sky and went from North to South straight out to sea. The whole sighting lasted just a few seconds.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30
• Location:
  HP224EZ Pulpit Lane Oving
• Report:
  I saw a bright white fireball with small tail crossing the sky going in a southerly direction whilst looking through my window towards the bowling avenue/recreation ground in Oving. It then disappeared behind the trees. I looked at my phone just after and the time was 18:31. The angle when I saw it was around 45 degrees and went out of view at around tree height. Time visible was less than 10 seconds. It was very bright like a star with e.g. Aldebaran but much bigger. The phone time is pretty accurate since it matches the satellite weather station. Windows were closed so no sound. It never broke up.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30
• Location:
  bs159xe
• Report:
  a bright fireball to the south east starting high up in sky and traveling directly down to horizon, it was blue/green lasted 3-5 seconds was bright as a flare.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  Around 6:32pm
• Location:
  Ilford, London
• Report:
  I saw very bright Blus, Green Yellow Light about south east starting high in the sky and traveling directly down to Earth and there were a airplane few miles away.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  6.30pm
• Location:
  Hartlebury Worcestershire
• Report:
  large bright ball falling out of the sky falling behind trees near Whitlenge Gardens Hartlebury as bright as the moon visable for about 4 seconds no sound

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30 hrs
• Location:
  Tamar Bridge, Saltash, Cornwall
• Report:
  A very large greenish ball appeared high in the sky as we looked through the car windscreen, it flashed across the sky in an eastish direction, from where we were it took up about half the sky, it lasted about a second or two then it fizzled out, I'm not sure but I think little bits came off it. We saw one many years ago which was widely reported, but that one made a loud rumbling noise, but in the car and beneath the bridge traffic we heard nothing, so don't know if it did make a noise or not. The size was far bigger than the brightest planet, sort of football size from where we were is the best way to describe it.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18.50
• Location:
  botley,southampton
• Report:
  looking south,just right of Orion i saw a bright orange ball-shape with orange tail flying in a horizontal line from north to south.Exciting for me as i have never seen what seems to be a fireball!it seemed quite low and disappeared on my horizon lasting about 2 seconds.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  Approx 18.30
• Location:
  Thurrock Essex
• Report:
  A very bright green arc with a red/orange tail, it seemed to be coming down very steeply from approximately 45 degrees above the horizon to 20 degrees or so, I was travelling in a South Easterly direction and it appeared to be tracking from North to South and lasted for about 2 seconds until it faded to nothing. I didn't hear any sound but was in my car, it largely remained intact however the tail end appeared to fragment at the end of its travel

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  16:30
• Location:
  Widemouth bay, Bude, Cornwall
• Report:
  What looked like a large orange ball of fire with a green tint to it falling directly down from the sky with a bright tail following it! Lasted about 10 seconds before it went behind a cloud where it looked like it exploded (may have been a reflection) We were outside a pub on a cliff and was facing east at the time looking over the towns not out to sea. No sound came from it.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30
• Location:
  Widemouth bay, Bude, Cornwall
• Report:
  Just to correct my earlier post as I accident my put the wrong time and couldn't find away to edit it.. What looked like a large orange ball of fire with a green tint to it falling directly down from the sky with a bright tail following it! Lasted about 10 seconds before it went behind a cloud where it looked like it exploded (may have been a reflection) We were outside a pub on a cliff and was facing east at the time looking over the towns not out to sea. No sound came from it.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  About 18.30
• Location:
  Wheatley, Oxfordshire
• Report:
  We were facing roughly south and saw a very bright green light travelling fast down the sky. It travelled from right to left at quite a steep angle - perhaps 30 degrees off vertical. It moved like a shooting star but was far bigger and brighter than any shooting star I have seen.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  Approx 6.30
• Location:
  Birmingham
• Report:
  A bright orange ball, with a white trail shooting across the sky. Seemed to be heading towards the ground, but too far away to see it for more than 6 or so seconds. Heard a muffled bang in the distance afterwards, but could be completely unrelated. The most amazing sight I've ever see in the sky. Magical.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30-19:00
• Location:
  United Kingdom
• Report:
  A green light,like a firework fizzling out...was driving so only saw it for a second.was heading southwest on the m5.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18.30
• Location:
  Tipperary Town Ireland
• Report:
  fireball 3seconds clear sky heading east

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  6:30 PM
• Location:
  Donkey near Chester
• Report:
  A very large green fireball rather like a firework shooting east over Chester and about 2000ft. Duration was approx 2 seconds it seems to disappear rather than go out of sight I was driving so couldn't hear any noise and unfortunately my dash cam memory card was full so didn't catch it on film. Most impressive thing I have seen in the sky and now totally curious as to what it was and where it went as it would have made a significant impact if it hit the ground. Steve Shickell

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  6.30pm
• Location:
  M6 south of Lancaster
• Report:
  Three passengers in car travelling south on M6, all saw the same thing, circular green object moving rapidly top to bottom in a fairly clear night sky. To the left of the M6, seen for about 3 seconds before dropping below horizon

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  about 6:30
• Location:
  Manor House Drive, Brondesbury Park, London NW6
• Report:
  a meteor or fireball falling in a west/south/west trajectory from the sky,to disappear behind trees in the distance.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30
• Location:
  West Thurrock, Essex
• Report:
  I was facing South towards the Thames when I saw a very bright light object with a long orange tail heading downwards & South from the North. It reminded me of a firework rocket but only heading downwards and no sound as it was brighter than a firework. Lasted only a second before fading to nothing. Very bright orange light and long trail & very quick. Happened very quickly but fireball was so large & bright I can still picture it clearly.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30
• Location:
  Epping Essex
• Report:
  Large green fireball, heading approx South to South-East, in sky over Epping. Pulsed a few times lasted approx 2-3 seconds. At peak, as bright as a flare.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:30
• Location:
  Whiteshill, Stroud,Gloucestershire
• Report:
  Very bright object , red in colour spotted for seconds, travelling in southern direction, very fast moving and went beyond the horizon , no sound.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  Around 6.30pm
• Location:
  Compton Valence, Dorchester, Dorset
• Report:
  Orange fireball with white tail falling almost vertically to ground. Facing SE. Looked similar to a flare. No sound or aircraft heard.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  1830pm GMT
• Location:
  Swindon Wiltshire UK
• Report:
  Bright, fast moving fireball, very large in size moving west to east in the south direction. Was definitely a meteor. Partner saw it also. Visible for about 5 to 7 seconds. Travelled half way across the sky. Brighter than a full moon.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  Roughly 6.30 - 7.00 pm
• Location:
  Oxfordshire
• Report:
  What seemed like a flare, bright yellowy orange ball with a tail, moving from north to South rapidly downwards, whilst driving on the A34 south. Spotted both by my self and husband. I have seen many a shooting star, but thought at first it must be a firework as it was so low in the sky. It must of been bright for me to have noticed it whilst driving and through all the headlights and lighting of a busy road.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18.34
• Location:
  United Kingdom
• Report:
  seen from Radyr Cardiff ..... green coloured fireball.. i was looking in the direction of the south .. it was coming down to the south east of me .. as bright as the moon or brighter only visible 2 secs... did not see it break up .. disappeared behind houses..

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  18:33
• Location:
  Beer Head car park, Devon
• Report:
  We were a party of 8. We saw what initially looked like a "shooting star" but it lasted much longer, perhaps 2.0 or 2.5 s and was slower moving. It started at about 45 degrees above the horizon and headed straight down towards the sea. It broke into 2 or 3 smaller parts coloured bluish green and orange right at the end which was at about 25 degrees above the sea. It's bearing was approx 100 degrees (slightly south of east). We listened for a bang but heard nothing. It was a really clear night. It was much brighter than the ISS (- 3.4?) which we saw at 19:23.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  6-35 pm
• Location:
  Witham, Essex.
• Report:
  I saw a very bright ball of light only for a second or so. it looked as though it was coming down somewhere in the distance, I thought it had a slight blueish tint. I thought that it may have been a firework, but I am sure it wasnt. Hence I looked it up and found that others had seen it as well and about the same time. I was facing South towards London and it disappeared behind trees. I didnt hear anything, and I didnt see it break up, It must have been a third of the sky when I saw it. Regards Dave.

• Date:
  2014-Feb-15
• Time:
  6.30pm
• Location:
  Romford. At North Street traffic lights heading towards Romford Station.
• Report:
  We was in our car sitting at North Street traffic lights waiting to cross the A12 heading toward Romford Station, when suddenly we saw this extremely fast beam of orange burning light travelling across the sky. My son and I were excited that we both saw what we thought was a comet. It was high, moving so fast then just disappeared into nothing. Sky was clear visibility, the brightness was such an intense orange, looked like the front was burning through the atmosphere with the orange light trailing behind like it was on fire. .... So lucky we both saw it, as my husband who was sitting in the back seat missed it by the time we told him so reckon we must have seen it about a minute before we both said what was that.... This long stream of orange light...... It was amazing whatever it was ......

James

[Mr Bond]

See here;

A bit shaky but that's the one!

[AstroJOE]

See here;

A bit shaky but that's the one!

WOW that's fantastic!! Thanks for posting. It's exactly what I saw. Clearly the same event we all witnessed I'm very happy someone managed to capture it on video as well !!

James