A streaking meteor the size of an oven briefly illuminated parts of the Utah sky to daylight-level conditions early Wednesday, surveillance footage shows.
The video from outside security cameras at the University of Utah’s Milford observatory shows a blinding flash of light around 12:07 a.m., followed by clear images of the meteor streaking away.
“It looks like a shooting star on steroids,” said Seth Jarvis, director of the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City.
He estimated that the fireball was about the size of an oven and was traveling at about 80,000 mph. It broke through the Earth’s atmosphere and was probably around 100 miles above the ground when it became visible, he said.
It almost certainly broke up before it reached the ground, he said.
Utah scientists on Wednesday said it’s likely the meteor was associated with the annual Leonid meteor shower.
Dave Kieda, chairman of the school’s department of physics and astronomy, said meteor sightings aren’t uncommon, but to see one this large — and to get much of it on tape — is unusual.
Scientists with expertise in meteors will use the footage to help estimate its size and trajectory.
“We just got lucky and had a surveillance camera pointed in the right direction,” said Wayne Springer, an associate professor of physics and astronomy. Springer has been working at the university’s new observatory, which is perched on Frisco Peak, about 175 miles south of Salt Lake City.
After hearing news reports about the meteor Wednesday morning, Springer cued up the surveillance tape.
“And lo and behold there it was, this big flash of light,” he said.
