What many thought was a Hallowe'en fireball in the skies over Cork recently turned out to be a meteor
WHAT many thought was a Hallowe’en fireball in the skies over Cork recently turned out to be a meteor.
Speculation had been rife as to what the bright shooting star was but Astronomy Ireland confirmed that it was a meteor, seen in the sky on Monday October 28th.
Ballyvourney native Nicole Ní Ríordáin was one of the lucky ones to witness the meteor and told The Southern Star: ‘I was driving home from Kerry on Monday night to Ballyvourney and just as I was pulling in home I saw it. I actually thought it might have been a firework as it seemed so close to the ground,’ said Nicole.
‘It was extremely bright and I was able to stop the car and watch it go down. It was about the size of a tennis ball coming through the atmosphere.’
Nicole said that it was only the day after that she realised the significance of her sighting, following the various media reports about the meteor.
Astronomy Ireland reported sightings of the ‘fireball’ from across the country north and south and even tweeted: ‘It wasn’t a firework folks, despite the week that’s in it. They don’t make them that big yet. Sounds like a meteor or a fireball.’
The group also requested those with pictures of the ‘fireball’ to contact them as they will publish them in the next edition of their magazine.
It appeared in the skies at approximately 6.54pm and several Cork motorists managed to get dashcam footage. Sean Linehan from Banteer in North Cork was one of the lucky people to capture it on his dashcam in his car and his clear footage was used across numerous news and social media sites over the past week.