A video of a puzzling white streak moving across the sky has fired the imaginations of social media users in Russia’s Magadan region.
Showing an extended fiery trail scarring the sky, the footage had been filmed by local residents on December 28, and was published by a local telegram channel. As it trended on social media, people speculated whether it might be a so-called unidentified flying object (UFO), or comet skimming past our planet. Furthermore, it was unclear whether the unidentified object was falling or flying away on its mysterious path.
In the comments under the video, there was a wide array of theories as to what the object might be. Some wondered if it might be a rocket launched from the Sea of Okhotsk, others suggested it was the debris of a falling satellite burning in the atmosphere. But the most popular option appeared to be that it was a large meteorite rushing towards the Earth.
Speculations about the origins of the intriguing object came as fragments of meteorites have already been found in Kolyma, in the Russian Far East. One of the most famous discoveries was the Seymchan pallasite meteorite. The very rare type of meteorite - a massive metal chunk weighing close to 300 kilograms - was discovered in 1967 in the area of the Khekandya River.
The Seymchan meteorite (2.7 tons) is displayed on April 2, 2008 at Christie's in Paris, where it was auctionned off.
© AFP 2023 / MATHIEU GENON
The meteorite containing olivine crystals turned out to be a fragment of one of the ancient protoplanets, which, according to various estimates, entered the Earth's atmosphere at the dawn of the formation of the solar system and crumbled into a meteor shower. Thus, there is the theory that the Seymchan pallasite meteorite, containing extraterrestrial gemstones, can be the same age as the Sun, and the most ancient cosmic body that fell on our planet.
Over the years, parts of the unique object have surfaced across the globe and have been put up for auction. Several of these were sold in London, at Christie's auction.