A dashcam video released by York Regional Police shows the thrilling moment a meteor zipped across the sky with a bright glow Sunday afternoon.
Police shared a five-second video clip with their YouTube and Twitter followers Monday, providing some of the clearest footage of the space rock as it streaked over Ontario at incredible speed.
The moment was filmed by the in-car camera at exactly 4:17 p.m., as the police cruiser travelled through the intersection of Mulock Drive and Steven Court in Newmarket, north of Toronto.
An expert from Western University in London, Ont., confirmed Monday the object was a meteor that entered Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronomy Prof. Peter Brown told CTV News the meteor passed over an area near Peterborough, northeast of Toronto.
Brown said a shockwave was detected by microphones set up by the university, although most of the equipment it uses to track meteors was not functioning when witnesses reported a fireball or loud rumble.
Ontarians who were lucky enough to capture the moment on camera posted the footage online, creating a buzz on social-media networks. The American Meteor Society received reports from southern Ontario and parts of the U.S.
Based on the footage and shockwave data, the meteor would have been up to a metre in diameter, Brown told The Canadian Press.
He said it’s possible some fragments hit the ground, depending on the speed of the meteor.
Peterborough resident Sherry Adams told CP24 she was startled by a very loud bang.
"It was like the worst thunder that you can imagine and multiply that by about 10," Adams said. "My cat went scurrying."
Dana Petrillo said her house in Cobourg vibrated and she first thought it was due to an earthquake or explosion.
"It was a really low rumble that just reverberated through the walls. It really wasn't a shaking, like in an earthquake, but more like a wave. It really did feel like an explosion," she said in an email to The Canadian Press.
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