GREAT FIREBALL: A remarkable midnight fireball that "turned night into day" over parts of the western United States last night was not a Leonid. Infrasound measurements suggest a sporadic asteroid not associated with the Leonid debris stream. The space rock exploded in the atmosphere with an energy equivalent to 0.5 - 1 kilotons of TNT. Approximately 6 hours later, observers in Utah and Colorado witnessed a twisting iridescent-blue cloud in the dawn sky.
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/lar ... 558329.jpg
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/lar ... 567737.jpg
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/lar ... 166_fl.jpg
Debris from the fireball should have dissipated by that time, but the cloud remains unexplained; we cannot yet rule out a connection to the fireball event. Stay tuned for further analysis.
videos:
#1
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8714738
#2,
http://www.ktvb.com/news/Witnesses-see- ... 58772.html
#3.
http://www.heliotown.com/Utah_Fireball_Ashcraft.html
Thanks to NASA SpaceWeather and the CTV national news.