Fireball over western Canada

[The Warthog]

A couple of nights ago, a bright fireball appeared in the sky over Saskatchewan, near the Alberta border, between the city of Lloydminster and some town in Saskatchewan that I've never heard of. Despite what a lot of youtubers have put in, it happened east of Lloydminster, and not in Alberta.

Scientists reckon it was about the size of a grapefruit, and parts of it may have hit the ground. There are a whole lot of native people up there looking for it, and if it's there, they will probably find it. It was very, very bright.

Here is a compilation of several camera recordings of the event, with weird theme music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv2Ozovf9Ls

It was seen in three provinces, and those western provinces are each about the size of England.

[AndyH]

Wow fantastic footage.

Sure hope someone finds some 'bits' from that !!

Andy.

[blackgerby]

Lots of different dates on the cameras

[Sam]

Looks like there's a few in there - some daytime and some nighttime - would have been cool to see for real though.

[The Warthog]

It would have been visible over a huge area, and some parts of western Canada would have already been in darkness, while some were seeing it at twilight. Canada is big.

[ChrisEdu]

Canada is big.

That's an understatement!

Amazing how bright that thing was! I wonder if it would make much of a crater upon impact and how big it might be?!

[The Warthog]

If I recall previous discussions correctly, something the size of a grapefruit would be slowed to the point that it would make a hole, or bounce, depending on the ground. If it lands in muskeg, you'll never see it again, but there's lots of solid ground up there.

[jamieren]

There's one drawback to being an amateur astronomer. When something of this magnitude happens, everyone asks "did you see that?". Mind you, I suppose even some non-astro types have heard that question. It's been pretty big news & has been a good launching pad for discussion on my favorite topic. In talking with my mother (of all people?!) she said a group (RASC?) in Edmonton (Alberta), made the claim that it was 1-2 meters in diameter on the news.

[The Warthog]

I got the grapefruit size off CTV news, quoting "professional astronomers." As CTV is pretty responsible, I figure the estimate is good. If it had been on CNN, it probably would have been house-sized.

[Tiny]

One of the clips with bits breaking off looked like when the Shuttle broke up.