Daylight fireball shoots over UK
The meteor on 20 March was the second large fireball seen in British skies within a month, though the two sightings are unrelated
A bright meteor, known as a fireball, streaked through the skies over the west of the UK on 20 March. The meteor was first reported just before 15:00 UT, when people in France, England, Wales and Jersey heard a ‘sonic boom’. Some also saw a bright flash. The Ministry of Defence discounted an RAF aircraft, leading people to wonder if this could have been a rare event – a meteor bright enough to be seen during the day and which could have dropped meteorites.
Internet sleuths and meteor watchers alike quickly set about tracking down corroborating evidence, including BBC Sky at Night Magazine regular contributor Will Gater. “I went through each area of satellite imagery for the South West, scrolling back and forth through the data around the time of the sonic boom reports,” says Gater. “In the data at 14:50 UT, there was this bright feature. I couldn’t believe it, I had chills at the thought of what it might be.”
The final confirmation of a meteor came when dashcam footage from Jersey showed a bright light streaking across the sky. The meteor was large enough and bright enough that it could have dropped meteorites. “At the moment we can only give rough guidance,” says Ashley King from the Natural History Museum,“that there could be a meteorite on the ground somewhere between Verwood in Dorset and Romsey in Hampshire or a few miles either side of the line between them.”
The meteor was spotted just two weeks after freshly fallen space rocks were recovered from Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, and its surrounding area. Could a second meteorite recovery be on its way? www.ukfall.org.uk