An “unusually large meteor” briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Reports of sightings started arriving around 1 a.m. with the phenomena being seen as far north as Trondheim. A web camera in Holmestrand, south of Oslo, captured a fireball falling from the sky and erupting into a bright flash lighting up a marina. The Norwegian Meteor network was analysing video footage and other data on Sunday to try to pinpoint the meteor’s origin and destination. Preliminary data suggested a meteorite may have hit Earth in a large wooded area, called Finnemarka, just 60 km (40 miles) west of the capital, Oslo, the network said. The meteor travelled at 15-20 kilometres per second and lit up the dark summer night sky for about five to six seconds. Some eyewitnesses also said they felt a stronger wind blow with the event also causing a pressure wave. There were no reports of damage or people being particularly frightened and for those nearest it was likely more of a “spooky” event. A preliminary analysis of videos from the cameras shows that the meteor fell in Lier, about 15 miles west of Oslo. The analysis also suggest that the meteor was not typical in that “its orbit seems to have been confined to the innermost part of the solar system,” and not originating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
