Burning fireball flies over Västerbotten

Numerous readers reported sightings of an unidentified flying fireball moving across the sky towards the west on Sunday evening. Among them was 73-year-old Lisbeth Hedman. "I was astonished. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life," she said.

Pontus Johansson såg ljusfenomenet när han satt och kollade på matchen mellan Björklöven och Djurgården.

Pontus Johansson såg ljusfenomenet när han satt och kollade på matchen mellan Björklöven och Djurgården.

Foto: Pontus Johansson

Västerbottens län2023-04-03 11:55

The object flew over the skies of Västerbotten around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Like many Swedes at that time, Lisbeth Hedman was watching Mästarnas Mästare on TV when she saw something fly past her window.

– It was fiery red and then bright green. It looked like it was at the height of the pine tops. It flew west like a jet plane, she says and continues:

– It was awesome to see. It traveled in a straight line to the west.

Others who managed to see the flying fireball were Margot Sehlstedt Persson and her husband in Fällfors. She too was watching the Mästarnas Mästare when it happened.

– It was so incredibly cool. You can sometimes see or at least hear airplanes flying across the sky near us, but it went so terribly fast. It went straight over Jonberget at a tremendous speed, and then it descended and appeared to land in Bodaträsket possibly, she says and continues:

– We waited for it to explode. When you see something like this on film, it always blows up when it lands, but it never came.

One who managed to capture the fireball on film was Pontus Johansson in Hörnefors, VK writes. He and his pals were outside smoking in the break during the Björklöven and Djurgården hockey match when they "out of nowhere" saw the sky light up.

– I was quick enough to catch it. All four of us felt it was the most powerful thing anyof us had seen in this lifetime. Seeing a shooting star is one thing, but seeing a burning meteor is another.

He thinks it must have been a meteor.

– It was burning like hell. You also see that at the end of the film it splits into two parts and then it just dissolves, so it was incredibly cool.

Johan Köhler, who works as head of department at the Swedish Space Agency, says that the object was probably a meteorite.

– It has been reported in other media about a large meteorite during yesterday. Which is a very bright meteor that enters the atmosphere and then burns up. But I haven't seen any details about it, he says.

Readers say it flashed red and then green. Could that give any indication of what it was?

– I am convinced that it is a meteorite. I can't think of anything else.