Giant fireball streaks across sky and crashes on ground in China; is it a meteor, watch viral video

Is it a meteor? A recent event in China has left people stunned.

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We often hear about meteor showers but a recent incident has left people shocked. A massive fireball, presumed to be a meteor,  streaked across the sky before crashing on the ground in China.

The huge fireball glowing brightly in the sky was captured in several videos as it came shooting towards Earth, as reported by the Daily Mail. This event occurred in China's  Qinghai Province. The videos have gone viral as stunned locals showed an unidentified object exploding into a blazing sphere as it plunges at a fast speed towards the earth.

As per several clips by the Daily Mail, the ball of fire plummets into the county of Nangqian in north-western China. The incident is said to have occurred at around 7 am on December 23 (Wednesday). Daily Mail reported quoting local residents that they had heard loud bangs.

One of the videos, shared by a science blogger on Twitter-like Weibo, captures the moment the fireball soars through the darkness as it is seen by a passenger on a flight from Xi'an to Lhasa, reported Daily Mail. In a clip, the burning object is seen falling quickly before becoming very bright as it approaches the ground.

Daily Mail quoted a local saying that he witnessed the fireball while taking his child to school. Yu Jun, the chief writer of Chinese science website Guokr, told Beijing News that the fireball looked like a bolide, which is a very bright meteor, reported Daily Mail.

Several videos and photos of the mysterious event were shared on social media. Take a look:

A giant fireball has been spotted flashing across the sky and crashing into a county in southern #China.

Footage taken by stunned locals shows an unidentified object exploding into a blazing sphere as it plunges at a fast speed towards the earth.
pic.twitter.com/DmAQDhkZ7G

— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) December 23, 2020

China Earthquake Networks Center said it had recorded the incident. The authority said through its social media account that a suspected bolide landed near the border between Nangqian County and Yusu County at 7.25 am, added Daily Mail.

This is a REALLY BIG one!
Giant fireball seen over China. Video below https://t.co/3mqe2ouzId pic.twitter.com/5DzhXsCDAG — Con Stoitsis (@vivstoitsis) December 23, 2020

A NASA report suggests that more than 50,000 meteorites have been found on earth, of December 2019.

A super bright fireball stunned people living in west part of Qinghai and east part of Tibet in China at 7:23 this morning! pic.twitter.com/DskUwtBXuH

— Renjiang Xie （Jason ）解仁江 (@JasonXie1977) December 23, 2020

Today two strange and sensational events took place in Qinghai China and in Marshall County Alabama USA. A Meteor makes a LANDFALL in qinghai while in Alabama a Meteor SHINES BRIGHT in the SKIES. We will be needing astrologers to help us MAKE SENSE out of the strange events. https://t.co/Csrpk8yuCR — jerryo98 (@jaydchilly) December 23, 2020

Difference between an asteroid and meteor: An asteroid is a large chunk of rock left over from collisions or the early solar system whereas a meteor is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up. This debris itself is known as a meteoroid. Most are so small they are vapourised in the atmosphere. If any of this meteoroid makes it to Earth, it is called a meteorite. Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites normally originate from asteroids and comets.