A mysterious fireball was filmed exploding in different pieces in the sky over Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua at 04:30 UTC on December 28, 2016 (22:30 CST on December 27).
Some witnesses report loud booms and up to seven flashes during the disintegration of the bright space rock. But was this a meteor or space junk?
Aviso:
Reportan #bólido #meteoro #meteorito cruzando el lago de Atitlán #Guatemala #Sololá
Vídeo @RadioPuntoGT & @InfoTransitoGt pic.twitter.com/iSvCeWW0il— Geól. Sergio Almazán (@chematierra) December 28, 2016
Here another great video of the mysterious object disintegrating in the night sky:
Así se vio desde La Blanca, #SanMarcos, el supuesto meteorito que sorprendió a guatemaltecos esta noche. (Video: Estuardo Rabanales). pic.twitter.com/tbl5ddGpoK
— Prensa Libre (@prensa_libre) December 28, 2016
The Salvadoran Association of Astronomy ASTRO said the brilliant fireball that surprised many Salvadorans tonight was also visible from Guatemala City and Managua.
El #bólido #meteoro #meteorito también visto en El Salvador
Video: @malthuscastillo
Via @NHOLLYFONZI & @fotoselsalvador pic.twitter.com/6P1PfiTYnl— Geól. Sergio Almazán (@chematierra) December 28, 2016
The Insivume believes it is indeed a sapce bolide:
En nuestra opinión el avistamiento de esta noche a las 22:30 h. es un meteorito cruzo el cielo de Guatemala Sur a Oeste desintegrándose..
— INSIVUMEH Guatemala (@insivumehgt) December 28, 2016
“In our opinion, the sighting at 22:30 was a meteor crossing the sky of Guatemala from south to west,” Insivumeh said.
Although officials and skywatchers agree the event was a meteor disintegrating, some say -like me – the slow nature of the strange event indicates a possible space debris coming back to Earth. It was indeed observed for more than 30 seconds.
