Strange object spotted falling from the sky over South West England

[Chad]

Photos have surfaced of what appears to be an object falling from the sky. Gudrun Limbrick posted the photo in the Facebook page A Place In North Devon. [Thursday 31st March]

The other day, Easter Sunday 27th March, whilst trying to get some direct sunshine from the skylight in the attic, i spotted something that i thought may be #FireintheSky related.

The thing is, i live opposite British Aerospace (BAE) and so though it didn't look like a con-trail, i figured it could have been a test of some sort. Though i've never seen anything like it before, osit.

That said, with what i've learnt here, and the increasing nature of same, i also considered otherwise and so just tweeted about it and followed up with a location hashtag. My intention was to put it forward here for consideration after i'd thought about it, because it could have been/could be, wishful thinking.

Then i see the article noted in the subject heading and realised we are both west facing (see map image for comparison).

I'm north west England, Fylde Coast, and the article sighting was south west, Devon.

My Tweet from 27th March (2 x images were attached):

Opposite BAE but it wasnt a plane. Any ideas? #FireInTheSky or just testing something?

Pictures taken with my phone at 11:56am - facing BAE which actually takes up the coastline, so facing north west, i guess:

First, from the article:

People have been coming up with possible explanations including a meteorite, plane entrails or a strange cloud. It was seen from all over North Devon including in Combe Martin and Braunton.

Gudrun said: "I live in Woolacombe and popped my head out the door to have a look at the post-sunset sky about 8pm. I watched it for about 20 minutes as it moved down the sky and changed shape."

Do you think you know what the object might be? If so get in touch by emailing fran@northdevonjournal.co.uk

So the timings don't match but could it be one of a few, or perhaps it was testing after all. I present if for your consideration :) Another thing that compelled me to post is i think the trails look similar.

For comparison, the images from the article - spotted 4 days later, Thursday 31st March in Devon, south west England.

These photos were captured by Gudrun Limbrick this evening.
NDJFran
North Devon Journal
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 02:27 UTC
Map

So they're 4 days apart but in a similar area of the world.. osit.. my geography, and maybe spatial awareness aint great, math too.

The map for comparison - i'm the top end, Devon is the bottom (the maps a bit small so i've attached it as well - can do same with images if necessary):

Any thoughts?

 

[Chad]

Since the images will probably be clearer i've attached them.

 

[Cosmos]

A fireball IMO. I've seen a couple of those and they looked pretty much like the above. Those that I saw were quite slow as well and as soon as they were burned up in the atmosphere, the contrail started to meander like a serpent pretty quickly, like in the pictures above. I guess that is because those fireballs enter the atmosphere in fairly sharp angle (compared to normal contrails, that are most often within same atmospheric layer), thus the contrail track is exposed to different layers of the higher and lower atmosphere at the same time, that have different wind speeds and directions OSIT.

 

[Laura]

Yup, a fireball. If they are electrically charged, they can move very slow!

 

[Joe]

Both are probably fireballs. Just goes to show how common they are these days.

 

[Chad]

Thank you for your comment Pashalis!

Having only witnessed a well-known meteor shower at night-time, for the first time, last year, it was helpful. Plus the word 'serpent' through up some ideas i'd read in Laura's work, but hadn't considered, and so when i relayed the story to a few friends, they were actually interested in listening, for once. :)


Also, thank you Laura and Joe, that sufficed for me.


It's funny, because back in 2011 when i was slyly downloading the podcasts from the library - the sites were banned as either 'esoteric/metaphysics' - hearing all the hoo-har about comets bemused me. In about a year though, it dawned on me. So seeing one, or at least it's trail, since i do avidly follow the reports, was exciting.

What was interesting about the timing, is that, BAE is the largest employer in the area, and there'd easily be a few hundred staff there were it 2 days later; and at that time they'd be out on lunch. However with it being Easter Sunday, no one was in. The people at my house were drifting off to sleep after their carb-heavy, late breakfast. I imagine it was similar all around - there weren't many people outside and it was a lovely day.

 

[Cosmos]

A plane or a close up of a comet coming in?

http://<iframe width="560" height="...3g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This article says that it was recorded out of a window of a Airbus A330. The comment to the video says that the Airbus was traveling at 10,5 kilometers hight at the time and the object must have been much higher. There is a controversy on what it actually is on the internet right now:

http://de.sputniknews.com/videoklub/20160425/309452574/flugzeug-passagier-filmt-unbekanntes-flugobjekt-ueberholt-airbus.html#ixzz46qmql7H0

The only option nobody is talking about is that of a fireball.

 

[Gawan]

Looks like a fireball to me of a very good cgi.

 

[Chad]

A plane or a close up of a comet coming in?
[...]
The only option nobody is talking about is that of a fireball.

I have no idea myself. The video is really quite clear and there does appear to be some kind of reflection going on nearer the end whatever that means. I'm surprised the video only has 196 views though!