Footage Shows Huge Fireball Falling From Sky In China

Footage captured in China shows a huge fireball burst through the atmosphere and light up the sky as it speeds towards the ground. Watch it here:

In what is just a standard sight for 2020, the object, believed to be a meteor, was filmed plunging towards the earth in the county of Nangqian in north-western China's Qinghai Province.

Although it's not confirmed what it is yet, there are no casualties reported, and the incident took place at about 7am on Wednesday (23 December).

Different pieces of footage show it plummeting towards hills and rural areas.

One of the videos, which was shared on Twitter-esque Weibo, was posted by a science blogger - it captures the moment it can be seen from a passenger on a flight.

A local resident, Dan Ba, said he saw the fireball when he was taking his kid to school.

Speaking to Pear Video, he said: "It started very small, but three minutes later it became very big and bright."

Newsflare

Chief writer of Chinese science site Guokr told the Beijing News that it looked like a bolide - a form of very bright meteor.

It was also recorded by the China Earthquake Networks Center, which said on social media that it had reports of a suspected bolide land between Nangqian County and Yusu County at 7.25am.

It might be a glimpse of what's in store for us though - an asteroid named Apophis after the ancient Egyptian god of chaos is gaining speed and could crash into Earth in just under 50 years. Brilliant.

Astronomers at the University of Hawai'i say the asteroid is picking up speed due to non-uniform radiation.

Dave Tholen, one of the astronomers, explained to Gizmodo: "Light radiated from a body gives that body a tiny, tiny push. The warmer side of an asteroid pushes a little harder than the cooler side because the warmer side emits more light (at invisible infrared wavelengths), so there is a net non-gravitational force acting on the body.

"It's such a tiny force that it's not noticeable for larger objects, but the smaller the object, the easier it is to detect the effect."

It was previously thought there was no chance of the asteroid hitting Earth, but scientists now believe it could strike on 12 April 2068.

At least we've all got a chance to get our affairs in order before the big day.

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward