Long-duration fireball streaks across western Turkey skies, possibly an Earth-grazing meteor
A bright fireball was observed over western Turkey on the evening of March 15, with residents across Uşak Province reporting a slow-moving luminous object crossing the night sky for more than 20 seconds.
Videos recorded by witnesses show a bright white to bluish-green object with a compact head and a narrow glowing tail moving across the sky at a shallow angle before fading from view. The long visible duration and smooth motion distinguish the event from typical meteors, which usually last only a few seconds.
Preliminary analysis suggests the object may have been an Earth-grazing meteor, a rare type of fireball that skims the upper atmosphere at very shallow angles.
Earth-grazing meteors enter the atmosphere at a shallow trajectory and travel hundreds of kilometers through the upper atmosphere before exiting again into space or continuing along a long atmospheric path. Because they remain at high altitude, they can remain visible for 10 to 40 seconds, significantly longer than most meteors.
Still images from the available videos show a single luminous body with a smooth, tapering plasma trail and no visible fragmentation. The emission color appears white to bluish-green, which is commonly produced when meteoroids vaporize and excite atmospheric gases at hypersonic speeds.
If the object traveled at typical meteoroid velocities of around 20 km/s (12.4 miles/s) and remained visible for about 20 seconds, it could have crossed approximately 400 km (250 miles) of sky. Events of this type can be visible over large areas and may have been seen from other parts of western Turkey or over the Aegean region.
Earth-grazing fireballs are rare but well documented. In such events, the meteoroid can skim the atmosphere at altitudes around 80 to 100 km (50 to 62 miles), and in some cases, the object survives the passage and returns to space on a modified orbit around the Sun.
There are currently no reports of damage, sonic booms, or meteorite falls associated with the event.
At the time of writing, the fireball had not yet appeared in reconstructed trajectory datasets from global meteor observation networks.
Further reports from other locations could help determine the fireball’s trajectory and confirm whether the object followed a grazing path through the upper atmosphere.
If you’ve witnessed the event, we invite you to submit a report to the International Meteor Organization.
