New video footage, captured by several car owners across the city of Murmansk in Russia, show an object, most probably a meteor, exploding over a Russian city on early Saturday morning. The celestial phenomenon was captured by the dashcams of several cars – as is the case with most other viral videos emerging out of Russia. The incident happened at around 2:10 am local time, and left people who witnessed it stunned.
While the visual impact of the phenomenon was great, there were no reports of any damage caused due to the fireball – as the meteor most probably burned out as it entered the atmosphere. According to local astronomer, Viktor Troshenkov, the meteor was a part of the Lyrid meteor shower , which reaches its peak next week. “These meteors burn up in the atmosphere, and they are absolutely not dangerous,” Troshenko told a local news channel LifeNews .
Meanwhile, Russia’s FlashNord news service has managed to compile several dashcam and street videos together of the meteor shower which we have also embedded below.
Many of the dashcam videos also recorded animated conversations between people on board the vehicles as most of them were left awestruck by the luminosity of the meteor. According to several eyewitnesses, for a few seconds it was practically as bright as day time.
This latest meteor shower in Russia has once again reminded people about the famous Chelyabinsk explosion of 2013 where several such dashcam videos recorded a spectacular view of a meteor lighting up the sky in broad daylight. The meteor involved in that incident was substantially larger, and it caused an explosion that left several people injured.
Several meteor showers have been caught on camera in Russia due to the widespread use of dashcams in the country. While they are installed primarily installed to document roadside incidents and traffic accidents, of late they have become popular for their ability to record events of astronomical nature as well.
[Image via Video Screenshot]