Wondering if anyone else saw the fireball last night, and what it was from.
I was walking back to the apt from the internet cafe at about 12:25am when I saw a fireball overhead. Bright white and well-formed, with little or no after-trail. Does anyone know whether it was a missile test or a meteor?
I’ve seen meteor trails (the November 2002 Leonid shower was quite spectacular) and they generally lasted longer than this, especially when they were that large and bright, so I’m leaning toward a missile test, but nobody I’ve asked has heard anything.
The rare phenomenon known as ball lightning, perhaps? There was a magnificent lightning storm over Taoyuan earlier tonight. Maybe one of those caused it last night.
Er, no, it was [quote]bright white and well-formed, with little or no after-trail[/quote]
So it wasn’t a lantern. The shape immediately made me think of a missile launch; the meteor trails I’ve seen, when they’re that huge, tend to last for a few seconds – you see a long bubbly streak in the air when they’re large fireballs, not just a line.
Definitely not ball lightning, not unless ball lightning whips along in a straight line at umpteen mach.
Oh well. Another coverup by the Chen administration!
Ball lightning has indeed been known to zip along as well as linger in the air. But it is highly unlikely that’s what it was. So then the question is…wtf was that?
