One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
That Fireball You Saw Last Night? Mystery Solved
A glowing fireball streaked across the sky over Los Angeles last night, so Angelenos naturally took to Twitter with questions—and jokes. Is it a true meteor, or just space trash? Did Kobe shoot a freethrow from heaven?
it’s #kobebryant shooting a freethrow from heaven 💜👼🏾💛 #meteor https://t.co/cmrIXB9qqj
— joseph 〄 (@stussyjoseph) January 30, 2020
Frenzied sky-watchers across LA, and even as far south as San Diego, propelled #meteor to trending on Twitter. Videos show the meteor breaking up into several blazing pieces across the sky.
Meteor over Los Angeles, taken in the Mission Hills/San Fernando Valley area of LA. I got the last 13 seconds of at least a 20 second shooting star #meteor #LAmeteor #LosAngeles #LA #ShootingStar pic.twitter.com/DFeK3psOlE
— Stan Moroncini (@StanMoroncini) January 30, 2020
Even the experts didn't know initially if the fireball was made of rock, or if it was just one of the 500,000 pieces of space trash orbiting the Earth.
NASA finally figured it out though. Here's the answer.
GO DEEPER: