The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA) is seeking help from residents to capture footage of a bright meteor that entered Earth’s atmosphere at 08:50 on Sunday, 25 August.
According to a statement by the ASSA, the object was a small asteroid or fragment of an asteroid and burned up in a fiery streak visible in broad daylight.
The statement read: “The fireball was seen over a wide expanse of the Cape and southern Free State.
“The fireball also created a sonic boom, and sounds like an explosion, thunder and rumbling were heard, and windows rattled.
“Sites where the fireball was seen are shown as yellow pins, and where sounds were heard are shown as red pins on the map.”
The statement added that the location of the explosion is shown as a green pin marked ‘Disruption’.
Now, the ASSA are looking for any security camera footage which may show the fireball to help determine its path through the atmosphere.
“Cameras from anywhere on the map pointing in the direction of the green pin may have picked up the meteor.
“These can be from domestic dwellings (many people have cameras mounted looking outside, but don’t think to look and see if they captured the meteor), commercial properties, shopping malls, hotels, and petrol stations, and many will be pointing in the right direction,” the statement explained.
The ASSA revealed that to date we have three videos from St Francis Bay, Gqeberha and Hanover, however, they require more.
“If you have a security camera which you think might have caught the fireball, all we need is to check if you recorded it at 8:50 am on Sunday 25 August.”
