Huge Fireball Reported Over Ireland

By Nancy Atkinson - February 3, 2010 at 1:34 PM UTC | Planetary Science

We're seeing reports popping up on the internet of a huge fireball spotted over Ireland at around 6pm local time on Feb. 3, 2010. There was a video posted to You Tube which claimed to be footage of the event, but it now seems that was old footage, so we have removed the embedded video. (We'll post any new verified images or videos when they become available.) Any Irish readers out there see anything? The

Irish Times

said members of the public throughout the country have been reporting sightings of the fireball. The Times quoted

Tommy

David Moore from Astronomy Ireland: "A major explosion happened in the sky over Ireland. We think it's a fireball, that's a rock from space the earth has slammed into and they burn up as huge shooting stars. This one appears to have lit up the whole country. The phones here in Astronomy Ireland are going crazy."

On Facebook

NightSky.ie

reported : "It was seen blazing in the air by people all over the country and would have been traveling with the force of a small nuclear weapon. It is likely it has landed inland, but it is unlikely to have injured anyone. Although traveling at high speed when it was spotted, it would have slowed as it hit the atmosphere."

Stay tuned!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com