Videos show a meteor explosion turning the sky an eerie green

Onlookers claimed the meteor was anything from advanced weapons to aliens.

Meteor shower

Last Saturday evening, a meteor made its way through the atmosphere and caused an explosion that appeared to light up the night sky in Izmir, Turkey, a strange shade of green. Here is a compilation of videos showing the strange event:

The fireball and explosion garnered a lot of attention on Twitter, with various onlookers sharing sequences of the night sky briefly illuminated.

Of course, those same articles were filled with conspiracy theories about alien ships and advanced orbital weapons – who can blame them when they come to watch this display? – but a prominent astrophysicist later clarified that the explosion was a rare but perfectly explainable meteor incinerating at the entrance.

Dodge the fireballs

In reality, the explosion was probably a typical meteor that strayed too close to Earth and managed to survive longer and reach closer to Earth than the average space rock, astrophysicist and associate director of the observatory from Ege University in Turkey Hasan Ali Dal explained on Twitter.

It added that these kinds of explosions, while certainly dramatic, can be expected at this time of year when the annual Perseid meteor shower is in full swing.

As for how the explosion may have lit up the green sky, it is possible that this was due to the nickel content of the space rock. But it could also be the result of atmospheric conditions, or even a camera artifact – although the multiple angles of the explosion, all showing the same weird hue, likely make this explanation less likely.

Sadly, that means there were no aliens involved in the Green Fireball, and it wasn’t a test of a top-secret SpaceX weapon, either, as another conspiratorial tweet we claim claims. don’t need to link here. But for casual viewers, that shouldn’t make the natural fireworks display any less exciting to watch – from as far away as possible, that is.

READ MORE: Images show a meteor transforming the sky to a brilliant green [LADbible]

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