A bright meteor, identified as a bolide, streaked across the sky over southern Vancouver Island on December 29th, captivating residents and sparking various theories about its origin.
A bright flash streaked across the sky over southern Vancouver Island on the evening of Dec. 29, perplexing many residents of Greater Victoria and beyond. Several shared their sightings online shortly after 6:20 p.m. Hypotheses varied widely, ranging from explosions or a damaged transformer to a SpaceX shuttle launch or Starlink satellites re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Another theory suggested a bus-sized asteroid briefly entered Earth's orbit.
David Balam, a Canadian astronomer and former University of Victoria researcher, confirmed that the sighting was indeed a meteor, specifically a bolide. Visible from the Yakima Indian Reservation in Washington state to Nanaimo Airport, the bolide was described as a 'fairly good chunk' less than one meter in diameter. Bolides are exceptionally bright fireballs, brighter than the full moon for more than three seconds, and distinguish themselves from typical meteors due to their speed. Balam noted that while satellite burnouts take about 60 seconds to travel from horizon to horizon, bolides disintegrate within seconds due to their break-neck speed, which can range from 10 to 115 kilometers per second
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