Peekskill Fireball Video: Johnstown
Credit:
J. Derr (WWCP)
The Peekskill meteor of 1992 was captured on
16 independent
videos and then struck a car.
Documented as brighter than the
full Moon, the spectacular fireball crossed parts of several
USA states during its 40 seconds of
glory before landing in
New York.
A video of the fireball beyond a high school football game in
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, is pictured above.
The resulting
meteorite is imaged
here,
and was found to be composed of dense rock and has the size and mass of an extremely heavy
bowling ball.
If you are lucky enough to find a
meteorite just after
impact, do not pick it up --
parts of it are likely to be either very hot or very cold.
Tracking meteors origins and destinations might be easier in this modern digital age, but many security cameras videos that likely caught a bright fireball are not preserved.
If you would like to volunteer to help meteor science by locating images and videos of newly occurring fireballs within 48 hours after they occur, here is a place to sign up.