AN UNIDENTIFIED fireball was seen soaring across the sky last night (Sunday) from several provinces in Spain.
It was visible for several seconds and changed colour constantly, leaving a long trail of smoke behind it before disintegrating.
Residents and holidaymakers across at least half of Spain from east to west – in the regions of Catalunya and Aragón in the north-east, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León in the centre, Valencia in the east, Andalucía in the south, and Extremadura in the west – photographed and videoed what looked like a massive, multi-coloured meteorite.
According to the Spanish Meteorite Investigation Network, the fireball was travelling at speeds ranging from 11 to 73 kilometres a second, and may have been a particle of the 20-metre asteroid which came very close to the Earth yesterday.
These fiery particles rarely cause a meteorite when they penetrate the Earth's atmosphere, with only about 10 of the 500 or so a year detected impacting the planet.
The Investigation Network has 25 comet detector station which cover at least 95% of Spanish territory.
This photograph was taken by their station in Blanes (Girona province).
