Mexicans Scared Straight After a Streak of Blinding Light Suddenly Lit up the Entire Night Sky

A sudden burst of light in the sky is a scene that most will not forget. People in Mexico were treated to this visual recently, and it set social media on fire, stated The Independent. There were multiple speculations regarding the reasons behind this spectacle, and scientists appear to have reached a conclusion.

The whole phenomenon seemed like a fireball shooting in the sky, and then dissolving into bursts of light, as per onlookers. The incident unfolded on 16th April at around 3 a.m. The light stretched across plains, small cities, and volcanoes.

Initially, people thought that the event was caused by a meteorite. However, a closer look revealed a different picture to the scientists. Experts claimed that the object that shot up in the sky was a bolide. Sismo Alerta Mexicana, an independent seismic monitoring service, claimed that the bolide in Mexico City disintegrated 12 to 25 miles away from Earth's surface, according to Mexico News Daily. Some people claimed that they felt vibrations when the explosion was happening in the sky. There were claims of triggered car alarms and broken windows on social media. However, Mexico’s National Seismological Service did not record any earthquake activity.

Civilians from the capital, Ecatepec, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Querétaro, and Pachuca reported about the phenomenon. The sound produced by the bolide was heard all across these areas. One witness described the lighting as a "giant shooting star." At present, there is no report of significant injuries, debris, or impact sites caused by this particular bolide.

NASA defines bolides as meteors that are so spectacular that they can be observed over a wide area by onlookers. The organization further explains that in the case of bolides, the visual magnitude is at -3 or brighter, from the observer's point of view. It is an unusually bright extraterrestrial object, which mostly explodes at night, the experts added. It is distinct from meteorites in terms of impact, according to The Independent. Meteorites clash with the surface, but bolides mostly disintegrate in the atmosphere.

Mario Rodríguez, a doctor in space science with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, claims that the whole phenomenon in Mexico City was possibly caused by a meteoroid, or a fragment of a meteor. These bolides catch fire as they are heading towards the Earth, according to experts. The 'bursts' that onlookers see are a consequence of the pressure and heat that meteoroids are subjected to in the Earth's atmosphere. They are so bright that many have claimed that when bolides occur in the sky, they appear more illuminating than the moon. This pressure causes the object to have a tail, while still on fire, and appear like a lightning bolt. In the case of Mexico City, experts think the meteoroid involved was likely five feet in length, according to Rodríguez. He further claimed that the object posed no danger to the public.

Researchers emphasized that these events are quite common, stated Mexico News Daily. Around 17,000 bolides enter Earth every year, but only a few are intense enough to be noticed by civilians. Bolides are mostly deemed harmless by experts.