A huge ball of fire “falls from the sky and collapses in a Chinese city”

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A huge ball of fire “falls from the sky and collapses in a Chinese county”, leaving the locals amazed

  • A huge fireball was seen shining today over the sky over Nangqian, China
  • Filming shows the burning sphere exploding and collapsing in the county
  • Local media suggested that the fast-moving object could be a very bright meteor
  • The Chinese earthquake authority said a suspicious fireball hit the ground at 7.25 in the morning

By Billie Thomson for Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A giant fireball was seen flashing across the sky and crashing in a county in southern China.

The footage taken by the astonished locals shows an unidentified object exploding in a burning sphere, while throwing itself at a rapid speed towards the ground.

It is not clear immediately what the fireball is, but local media suggest the possibility of a very bright meteor. No casualties were reported.

The giant fire was seen flashing across the sky over Nangqian in China this morning

The giant fire was seen flashing across the sky over Nangqian in China this morning

Various clips on Chinese social networks show that the suspicious meteorite illuminates the sky

Various clips on Chinese social networks show that the suspicious meteorite illuminates the sky

Various clips on Chinese social media show that the suspicious meteorite illuminates the sky as it crashes in Nangqian County in Qinghai Province in northwest China.

The incident is said to have occurred around 7:00 a.m. Wednesday. Locals reported hearing loud bangs.

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Twitter, such as Weibo, captures the moment when the fireball rises through the darkness as seen by a passenger on a flight from Xi’an to Lhasa.

The incident is said to have occurred around 7:00 a.m. Wednesday

Locals reported hearing loud bangs

The incident is said to have occurred around 7 a.m. Wednesday in northwest China

In another piece of footage, the burning object is seen descending rapidly to the hills and fields.

In a third clip, the fireball gets brighter and bigger as it approaches the ground.

Dan Ba, a local, said he witnessed the fireball while taking his child to school.

“It started very small, but three minutes later it became very big and bright,” the father told Pear Video.

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Twitter, such as Weibo, captures the moment when the fireball rises through the darkness as seen by a passenger on a domestic flight.

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Twitter, such as Weibo, captures the moment when the fireball rises through the darkness as seen by a passenger on a domestic flight.

Yu Jun, chief writer of the Chinese scientific site Guokr, told Beijing News that the fireball looked like a fireball, which is a very bright meteor.

China Earthquake Networks Center said it recorded the incident. The authority said through its social media account that a suspicious car landed near the border between Nangqian County and Yusu County at 7.25.

The Nanxiang County government told Red Star News that it has heard of the matter, but is unclear about the details.

Explained: The difference between an asteroid, a meteorite and other space rocks

a asteroid it is a large piece of stone left by collisions or the early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the main belt.

A comet it is a rock covered with ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits take them much farther from the solar system.

A meteor is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns.

These residues themselves are known as meteoroid. Most are so small that they are vaporized in the atmosphere.

If any of these meteoroids reach Earth, it is called a meteorite.

Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites normally come from asteroids and comets.

For example, if the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, much of the debris burns in the atmosphere, forming a meteor shower.

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