WATCH: fireball narrowly misses Earth
Was anyone going to warn us about the giant meteor approaching the planet?
This piece of space rock decided to casually pass by, say hi, and maybe got a little too close for comfort.
This week a raging ball of fire got so close to our lovely Earth that the American Meteor Society received an almost record-breaking 259 reports from individuals saying they witnessed its glowing glory. They also received nine videos showing off the quick meteoric driveby.
According to the Guardian, this celestial traveller got so close to the planet that residents in Grand Bahama could hear a sonic boom as it passed.
While this incident might seem quite far-fetched, maybe even unbelievable, and some will argue that maybe the captured footage was altered, it very much did happen.
WOAH! Big flash and streak across sky in West Palm Beach. Happened moments ago while we were on Facebook Live for a @CBS12 story.
— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) April 13, 2021
Working to figure out what it was. pic.twitter.com/VDl9pFtb3h
READ: "Scary creature" in tree leaves city residents terrified
Multiple videos capturing the blast from all kinds of angles can be seen below:
READ: Meet your Last Kid Standing Week 1 Semi-Finalists!
But would anyone care to explain how what and why this happened?
Bill Cooke, a NASA astronomer, said it was an asteroid fragment, weighing close to 408kg, that had entered the Earth's atmosphere. It was travelling at 61142km/h and ended up disintegrating 37km above the Atlantic ocean! He also stated that through the disintegration process, the meteor generated so much energy it would have been equal to 14 tons of TNT (explosives).
That's one big blast.
READ: Kyra Ramdin's mother shares brave daughter's cancer story
And if you're wondering how close this burning ball got, it ended up flying 20,004kilometers above the Earth's surface. Although this might sound like a considerable distance, it's actually exceptionally close in space terms.
Some more good news is that the space stone was small and can't even be classified as an asteroid because of its size. It's actually more of an asteroid fragment or meteoroid.
READ: Rasta has returned with another questionable portrait honouring DMX
Luckily it disappeared as quickly as it entered the atmosphere, and there were no doomsday/apocalypse vibes... this time...
For more of the best Darren, Keri, and Sky moments, listen here:
Main image courtesy of Guardian News/YouTube