SA meteor footage wanted

2009-11-23 20:07

Johannesburg - The Johannesburg Planetarium has requested footage captured by members of the public of a meteor that sped over Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Botswana on Saturday.

"The planetarium and the impact cratering research group at Wits University would be very keen to obtain copies of any video recordings of the meteor seen burning up over South Africa," astronomer Claire Flanagan said on Monday.

"If footage from enough security cameras is available, it could possibly be used to work out where the meteor came from, how fast it was travelling, how high it was, and where it ended up."

Flanagan confirmed on Sunday that it was a meteor that lit up the skies and left many people looking up in awe.

People saw a bright "greenish, bluish" light heading towards Pretoria at about 23:00 on Saturday night.

Flanagan said the meteor moved over Gauteng towards Limpopo, travelling at upwards of 90km/h.

The meteor was a hot topic of discussion in the forum on mybroadband.co.za.

'It's Wikus Van der Merwe!'

"I saw a light flash the sky at about 20:00, at first I thought I was imagining it, but my friend also saw it... Maybe it's people getting abducted by aliens... I walked in the house looked out [and] the sky was lit. It looked how it normally [does] at 17:00," wrote one user.

Another wrote: "I [saw] it too in Hartbeespoort dam. Almost looked like daylight for a few seconds, not sure if it was a meteor or not... pretty cool..."

Others claimed to have heard and seen a "bright explosion".

"I was in Lonehill sitting outside with some friends at around 23:00 when my buddy noticed flashes in the distance. After he pointed, we looked up and that's when the sky lit up like day for a second or two. The sky actually went blue."

Flanagan said if a bang was heard, it meant that the meteor had disintegrated in the sky.

"The speed which it was travelling at would have caused it to burn and then disintegrate," she said.

Another user on the website said: "I think you guys should relax. Its Wikus Van der Merwe and his prawns," in reference to the South African-made movie District 9 which sets Johannesburg as the home of alien creatures.

Flanagan said that if the meteor had landed it would not have caused a major impact.

She could not say how big it was as it was unexpected, and not connected with any kind of shower.

Flanagan can be contacted on 011-717-1390 by anyone who has footage of the event.

- SAPA