A huge fireball ‘falls from the sky and crashes into a Chinese city’

A huge fireball ‘falls from the sky and crashes into a Chinese city’

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A huge fireball “falls from the sky and crashes into China County”, leaving locals stunned

  • A huge fireball was spotted flashing in the sky over Nangqian in China today
  • The footage shows the burning sphere exploding and falling steeply into the county
  • Local media suggest that the fast-moving object could be a very bright meteor
  • The Chinese earthquake administration said the suspicion of a car hit the ground at 7.25am

Billie Thomson for Mailonline

Published: |. | Updated:

A huge fireball was spotted flashing in the sky and crashing in a district in southern China.

Footage of stunned locals shows an unidentified object exploding into a ball of flame as it descends towards the ground at high speed.

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

A huge fireball was spotted shining in the sky over Nangqian in China this morning

A huge fireball was spotted shining in the sky over Nangqian in China this morning

Various clips on Chinese social networks show the suspected meteor illuminating the sky

Various clips on Chinese social networks show the suspected meteor illuminating the sky

Various clips on Chinese social media show the suspected meteor illuminating the sky as it crashed into Nangqian County in Qinghai Province in northwest China.

The incident is said to have occurred on Wednesday around 7 p.m. Locals reported hearing loud bangs.

One of the videos, shared by a scientific blogger on Weib like Twitter, captures the moment a fireball soars through the darkness, as seen by a passenger on a flight from Xi’an to Lhasa.

The incident is said to have occurred on Wednesday around 7 p.m.

Locals reported hearing loud bangs

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

The second part of the footage shows an object burning that descends rapidly towards the hills and fields.

In the third clip, the fireball becomes brighter and larger as it approaches the ground.

A local, Dan Ba, said he witnessed a fireball as he took his child to school.

‘It started very little, but three minutes later it became very big and great,’ the parent told Pear Video.

One of the videos, shared by a scientific blogger on Weib like Twitter, captures the moment a fireball soars through the darkness, as seen by a passenger on a domestic flight

One of the videos, shared by a scientific blogger on Weib like Twitter, captures the moment a fireball soars through the darkness, as seen by a passenger on a domestic flight

Yu Jun, the main writer of the Chinese science website Guokr, told Beijing News that the fireball looked like a car, which is a very bright meteor.

The China Center for Earthquake Networks said it recorded the incident. Authorities announced via their social media account that a suspected car landed near the border between Nangqian County and Yusu County at 7.25am.

The Nanxiang County government told Red Star News it had heard of the case but was not clear in the details.

Explained: The difference between asteroids, meteorites and other space rocks

An asteroid is a large piece of rock left over from a collision or early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the main belt.

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

A meteor astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when waste burns.

This waste is known as a meteoroid. Most are so small that they evaporate into the atmosphere.

If any of this meteoroid reaches Earth, it is called a meteorite.

Meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites usually originate from asteroids and comets.

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

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