Source: YouTube.com, Published on Apr 22, 2013 by Gakyoung Tube
Thousands of people from northern and central Argentina have taken to social media to ask what caused an enormous ball of light to momentarily light up the night sky in the early hours of Sunday morning. Video footage shot around 3.30am at Santiago del Estero, in Argentina's north, shows a large ball of light soar through the sky, completely illuminating a quiet street below, La Republica reports.
Startled locals quickly took to Facebook and Twitter to ask what had caused the night to briefly turn to day, with some speculating the phenomenon had been caused by a falling meteorite.
Jorge Coghlan, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Santa Fe, suggested the light could have been caused by a meteor that entered the atmosphere at high speed.
"This object disintegrated and was high so it could be seen for hundreds of miles, " he told La Gaceta.
Several other provinces in Argentina's north and centre also reported seeing a large ball of light that had lit up the dark sky.
"Meteors are smaller fragments. In this case, it was a larger object. We can calculate it was about 20cm in diameter," Mr Coghlan said.
Festivalgoer Films Bright Meteor in Argentina. Now that's what you call pyrotechnics! 130,000km per hour meteor turns night to day as it enters atmosphere over concert in Argentina. The moment a meteor exploded into a ball of light last night as it entered the Earth's atmosphere has been captured on video. The footage was taken by a music fan at a gig in Argentina and shows the giant fireball turn night into day for a moment as it shoots across the sky.
Locals said the object caused the ground to shake in Santiago del Estero and its light could be seen for hundreds of miles.
The film was taken at about 3.30am but the light is so bright that it looks as if dawn is breaking.
Within seconds distant green ball had illuminated the sky before fading into an orange glow.
Argentinian experts said the object was a meteor and would have been travelling at about 130,000km per hour.
Jorge Coghlan, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Santa Fe, said it had a diameter of about 20 centimetres.
'This object disintegrated and was high so it could be seen for hundreds of miles.
'Meteors are smaller fragments. In this case, it was a larger object. We can calculate it was about 20cm in diameter', he was quoted in Australia's 9 News as saying.
It is believed the object had completely disintegrated when it reached 65kms above ground.
Thousands of people from across eight provinces in the country spotted the light and took to Facebook and Twitter to discuss it.
Some posted video footage of the suspected meteor and the light which people said could be seen for hundreds of miles.
Static cameras in north and central Argentina filmed quiet streets being lit up like daytime.
Despite the spectacle, the object was still a fraction of the size of the giant meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains in February this year.
The 100,000 tonne space rock measured about 55 feet in diameter.
It injured almost 1,500 people and caused widespread property damage in Chelyabinsk city.
