Video Shows Rumbling Fireball Lighting Up the Sky Over Mexico City

Social media is buzzing with footage of a rumbling fireball that lit up the sky over Mexico City around 3 AM Wednesday.

Since the object was seen over Mexico’s capital, surveillance cameras and residents alike captured ample video of the fireball from many angles. Most notable, though, was the sound, as the object could be heard rumbling, striking initial fear.

As the Associated Press reports, Raúl Gutiérrez, Researcher in Space Sciences was quick to dispel any rumors. Gutiérrez, along with scientists across Mexico, identified the object as a bolide.

NASA defines bolides as “exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area.” They are a special type of fireball known for their brightness, reaching an apparent magnitude −4 or brighter.

Bolides are a meteor that explodes in the atmosphere, hence the audible rumbling heard on Wednesday morning.

Gutiérrez explained, “These sound waves happen when the object enters the Earth’s atmosphere and begins to generate shock waves because it starts to break and penetrate the atmospheric layers. There are two very well-known scenarios in the case of meteoroids: the first one is when the object begins to fragment, break, and it is noticeable in the videos because a slight flash is seen.

“The second is when the object tends to make a burst. It is rare for a [bolide] to generate rumble. That means that it was big enough to generate a rumble.”

Independent seismic monitoring service Sismo Alerta Mexicana quickly reported that they could detect the bolide’s acoustic waves via seismographs. SAM posted to X, “Based on reports and our cameras, we confirm that the explosion in Mexico City was a bolide (possibly a meteorite or meteor) that exploded 20-40 km above the ground, creating an acoustic wave.”

Mario Rodríguez, a doctor in space science with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, described the April 16 bolide as a fragment of a meteor that coasted over Mexican Skies, catching fire in its descent before disintegrating in the atmosphere. He, along with his colleagues believe the bolide to have been around five feet (1.5 meters) long and note it posed no threat to the public.

Image credits: Associated Press, WebCamsMX, The World is One News