A roaring meteor lights up Norway; Part of it may have fallen near Oslo

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OSLO (Reuters) – An “unusually large meteor” briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a stunning sound and light show as it streamed across the sky, part of which may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, experts said. Oslo.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Spectator reports began arriving around 1 am with the phenomenon appearing as far north as Trondheim.

A webcam in Holmstrand, south of Oslo, caught a fireball falling from the sky and erupting in a bright flash that lights up Anchorage.

Norway’s Meteor network was analyzing video footage and other data on Sunday in an effort to determine the meteorite’s source and destination.

The network said preliminary data indicated that a meteorite may have hit Earth in a large forested area called Finimarca, 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of the capital, Oslo.

“It was crazy,” Morten Billet of the network, who saw and heard the meteor, told Reuters.

By Sunday afternoon, no wreckage had been found, Billett said, and given the “difficult” site, one could take “about 10 years” to search for potential meteorites.

Billett said the meteor traveled at 15-20 kilometers per second and lit up the night sky for about five to six seconds. The summer sky was getting dark, and the days were starting to get shorter from the end of June.

Some eyewitnesses also said they felt stronger winds, Billett said, as the event also created a pressure wave.

“What we saw last night was a big boulder that probably travels between Mars and Jupiter, which is our asteroid belt. And when it sways, it creates a lot of noise, lightness and excitement among us (the experts) and maybe some fear among others,” Billett said.

There have been no reports of damage or people being particularly frightened, Billett said, adding that for those who are close it is likely more than a “scary” event.

A meteor exploded over central Russia near the city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, raining fireballs over a vast area and causing a seismic wave that shattered windows, damaged buildings and injured 1,200 people.

(Reporting by Nora Polley) Editing by Nick McPhee and Frances Kerry

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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