Social media was flooded with viral videos on Saturday night of the largest blue-green Meteor Strike in Portugal lighting up the night. The European Space Agency (ESA) says the meteorite appears to be a small part of a larger icy object hitting Earth’s atmosphere.
Credit: European Space Agency
“This object appears to be a small fragment of a comet,” ESA wrote on X Sunday. “We estimate that it flew at approximately 45 km/s over Spain and Portugal before burning up over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of approximately 60 km.”
The Spanish Observatorio de Calar Alto agrees that “the object came from a comet many kilometers.” It shines above the European sky for a few seconds, then it fragmented and flamed out when it reached an altitude of 54 kilometers (34 miles).
Initial reports indicated that part of the fireball might hit Portugal, but the European Space Agency said “the likelihood of meteorites being found on earth is very low.”
The European Space Agency has not yet provided any further details about where the fireball may have come from, but said ” It has never been tracked before or reported to have an impact.”