Asteroid Blast Rocks the English Channel: Eyewitnesses Report Spectacular Sight

Russell Kidson
Feb 13, 2023
Updated • Feb 13, 2023
Misc
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A celestial body designated as Sar2667, measuring approximately 1 meter in size, entered Earth's atmosphere in the early hours of this morning and subsequently exploded over the English Channel. This event created a visually stunning shooting star and an "airburst," which was visible from a broad area including most of southern England and Wales, and as far south as the city of Paris in France.

An asteroid has exploded over the English Channel

Related: Download the NASA Astronomy News APK

According to Mark Boslough, a prominent American physicist and specialist in airbursts at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, airbursts of the size generated by Sar2667 occur several times per year. However, such events are rarely detected in advance. In this instance, the detection of Sar2667 prior to its explosion represented only the seventh time in recorded history that an airburst of this type had been discovered in advance.

Additionally, Mr. Boslough highlighted that the explosion of Sar2667 marked a significant milestone in the history of airbursts, as it was the first time one had occurred over a populated area with sufficient prior warning to gather valuable data.

An asteroid exploded over the English Channel

It is worth noting that Mr. Boslough is a highly-regarded figure in the field of planetary impacts and global catastrophes. He serves as a research professor at the University of New Mexico, is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and chairs the Asteroid Day Expert Panel. These credentials solidify his position as a leading expert in the study of airbursts and planetary impacts.

Before the impact, an expert had cautioned that if meteorites were to result from the explosion, they would likely fall in the vicinity of Royville, France, a few minutes after the fireball had passed overhead. 

As a result of the remarkable nature of the event, individuals across the United Kingdom captured the moment on camera and subsequently shared their photographs and videos online.

An asteroid exploded over the English Channel

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Comments

  1. Randall Ronahan said on February 15, 2023 at 6:09 pm
    Reply

    yes its called subversion

  2. Jojo said on February 14, 2023 at 5:01 am
    Reply

    Are you certain this wasn’t another alien spacecraft shot down by the government?

  3. John G. said on February 13, 2023 at 4:49 pm
    Reply

    Brexit means Brexits. Asteroids included.

  4. Brash said on February 13, 2023 at 3:27 pm
    Reply

    Interesting about the asteroid. In your bio about gaming, I would be amazed at how perseverance and not giving up when playing FIFA 09 (soccer) taught me big lessons about life. I remember thinking at halftime many times where I felt there was NO way in heck could I ever win against the other team, for all sorts of reasons, so why even bother trying, just quit the game. But I decided to just stay in the game, and keep trying, no matter the odds, and amazingly I won sometimes! (not always of course). I saw that if I had given up I would NEVER have won those games period.

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