Video / Watch meteorite blaze across sky / Click here
A meteorite traveling with the force of a small nuclear weapon blazed across the sky in Ireland Wednesday and crashed inland.
Astronomy Ireland says the fireball, which was traveling at 100,000 miles per hour, was spotted at about 6 p.m.
The meteorite - which eyewitnesses said was the same size as a small desk - was seen by people up and down the country.
Astronomy Ireland say they have reports that the meteorite landed in a field near Crimlin in Cavan.
However, they do not know whether anyone was hurt.
Valentia Coastguard received reports from people all over the country from people in Mullingar, Limerick, Ballybunion and Bantry.
David Moore, of Astronomy Ireland, said: "This is a huge event."
Moore said he did not believe that the meteorite crashed at sea because eye-witnesses were facing inland when they saw it.
One eye-witness in Kildare said he thought the meteorite was a plane crash.
4 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.raincityken | Feb 05, 2010, 02:08 PM EST
Hi. I am in the US but I must say that I am impressed by the observation skills of the Irish! Imagine this thing zooming by in the night at 100,000 miles per hour and being able to tell that it the size of a small desk, as opposed say, to the size of a medium desk. That's impressive! By the way, I LOVE your country, especially the western parts.
BlackPirate | Feb 04, 2010, 09:39 PM EST
It amazing that we have the heavens and we know nothing about it - we should teach Astronomny in schools -- Its the future
Kelly Fincham | Feb 03, 2010, 07:26 PM EST
We've been told that this is genuine video of the meteorite and it was shot over County Meath at 6 p.m. Then again it could be someone playing with a torch! We'll all know tomorrow when the Irish media wakes up and tells us.
jacersisityourself | Feb 03, 2010, 05:58 PM EST
Ha ha... the person who posted that vid on You Tube has since posted that it's fake vid. But I do believe something happened. On the east coast of Ireland, as I headed for my grocers before 6pm, there was an unusually huge thick dark fog to the NW and it smelled as if something was burning in the air. We wait for tomorrow's scientific news. Maybe God was showering angels on Ireland tonight in prep for St. Valentine's Day or something. (PS - if you're a farmer in Ireland and notice Guinness-coloured black stones in your fields, be careful. Don't pick them up for a day or two, 'til the heat wears out, like y'know. Then you'll have your pot of black gold).