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Mysterious fireball spotted in Virginia sky

Residents along the mid-Atlantic coast got baffled when they spot a streak of light on Sunday, followed by one or more explosion-like sounds. Denying claims that it was a meteor, an expert said the mysterious fireball was space junk from a Russian rocket. Click here for video

Updated on: Apr 1, 2009, 13:27:07 IST
Agencies | By , New Delhi
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Residents along the mid-Atlantic coast got baffled when they spot a streak of light - likely a meteor - on Sunday, followed by one or more explosion-like sounds, as per the media reports.

HT Image
HT Image

"This brilliant meteor was probably two or three times brighter than the full moon, then it turned orange with a white core and disappeared," an amateur astronomer was quoted by the Virginian-Pilot.

The light and sounds, which shook houses in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, occurred at 9:50 pm, but one man said he witnessed the huge fireball at 2:30 am.

However, according to an expert, the mysterious fireball was not a meteor, but actually exploding space junk from the second stage of a Russian Soyuz rocket falling back to Earth.

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