Daytime Fireball in Texas Sky Actually a Contrail

By Natalie Wolchover

Credit: YouTube / Celestialconvergence

Daytime Fireball in Texas Sky Actually a Contrail

April 10, 2012 Updated Apr 10, 2012 at 3:39 PM PDT

(Life's Little Mysteries) A bright object that streaked across the Texas sky during the day April 4, originally believed to be a meteor burning up as it entered Earth's atmosphere, was actually a flying jet and its contrail, a NASA scientist has confirmed.

Local news stations reported that the bright object was a fireball (an especially bright meteor) and Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, initially said it was indeed a fireball, and more evidence of the mysterious and unexplained observation that there are more fireballs in the spring than other times of the year. However, other experts argued that the Texas fireball was actually a jet contrail reflecting the glow of the setting sun, making it appear fiery.

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