- A space rock entered Earth’s atmosphere above Tokyo, producing a bright flash and a loud sonic sound.
- The incident was captured on video, showing the fireball lighting up and then disappearing.
- No damage was reported, but the sonic boom was heard over great distances.
This past weekend gave those of us in the United States plenty of reason to look up at the sky, with all the totally legal fireworks that people were blowing in backyards and so on. Tokyo residents enjoyed a show in the sky a few days earlier, when a large space rock sped through Earth’s atmosphere over Japan and exploded in the process.
The fireball, believed to have been a piece of space junk that simply got too close to our planet, appeared around 2:30 a.m. local time. His arrival in the early morning meant that many people were already at night when he appeared, but his flash of bright light was met by an equally powerful sonic boom that surely awakened some of them.
As reported by Japan Times, the strong explosion produced by the space rock was enough for residents to notice that something was wrong. Some apartment residents reportedly thought the boom was coming from the unit above them, while others, although the heavy blow came from inside their own home. No serious damage was reported, which is obviously good news.
Incredibly, despite the event taking place brightly and early in the morning, someone managed to shoot an absolutely stunning video of the fireball’s appearance and eventual disappearance. The clip, which is only 13 seconds long, unfortunately doesn’t include the sound of the sonic boom that came shortly after the fireball vanished, but it’s still a great view of the object being annihilated by custom-made friction. that accelerates. Earth’s atmosphere.
The video description, which is written in Japanese, translates to the following:
A fireball brighter than the full moon (a particularly bright meteorite) flowed from west to east over Tokyo. A few minutes later I heard a roar that could be heard inside, which may be related to the fireball. The video plays at real speed. It was taken from the balcony. I’m surprised that the meteorite creates a halo.
That loud bang was definitely meteorite related, and it’s not uncommon for meteor sightings to be accompanied by sonic booms. In fact, some of the largest and most impressive meteorites that have descended on populated areas have even caused damage due to the energy released by the explosions.
In 2013, a particularly powerful boom occurred when the space rock now known as the Chelyabinsk meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere over Russia. It exploded with the energy of up to 500 kilotons of TNT, sending a shock wave to the broken windows and tested the structural integrity of many buildings below.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in virtual reality, handheld devices, smartphones, and future technology. Most recently, Mike served as technical editor at The Daily Dot, and has appeared on USA Today, Time.com, and countless other websites and in print. His love of reporting is second only to his addiction to games.
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