Blazing UFO sparks panic as it shoots across 250 miles of night sky above California

(source: dailymail.co.uk)

When a streak of fire blazed through the air above southern California, people could have been forgiven for thinking the Earth was under attack. Thousands saw it from Phoenix in Arizona to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and local authorities were swamped with reports of ball of flame in the night sky. One witness said: 'It was huge. It had a green glow in front of it and a white tail. It looked like green fireworks going across the sky.' But experts have revealed the phenomenon was most likely a fireball - a fragment of an asteroid that entered Earth's atmosphere.
The light was seen shooting quickly from west to east at around 7.45pm PDT, or 2.45am GMT.
Many reported it as bluish-green and others as yellow and orange. Some captured video of the object.
NASA scientist Don Yeomans, who runs the agency's Near-Earth Object Program, said: 'We can't say 100 per cent, but it's almost certain that the object was a fireball or very bright meteor the size of a basketball or baseball that likely disintegrated before it hit the ground.'
According to Mr Yeomans, the bluish-green colour suggests the object had some magnesium or nickel in it.
He added that orange is usually an indication it is entering earth's atmosphere at several miles per second, a moderate rate of speed.
'They make an impressive show for such a small object,' Mr Yeomans said.
Yeomans said fireball events are much more rare than shooting stars, but they happen on a weekly basis somewhere on Earth, usually over the ocean.
'It's a natural phenomenon and nothing to be concerned about.'
Astronomer Dennis Mammana, from Borrego Springs, said: 'Apparently this one put on a big show.
'The color of the object can tell you about the chemical composition of the meteor. The bluish-green color could mean it was nickel.'
At Maricopa County Sheriff's Office police fielded more than a dozen calls about sightings.
Sheriff's deputies at Deer Valley Airport in north Phoenix reported a sighting themselves, Lieutenant Justin Griffin said.
'It took an unusually long time to get across the sky,' Lt Griffin said. 'It's like a meteor. It's not like we had any flying objects with little green men or anything like that.'
Sergeant Steve Martos, of the Phoenix Police Department, said his agency received four calls 'regarding the light in the sky'.
He added: 'Myself and other officers observed it as well. We all made our wishes and went back to work. Nothing more to report. Have a safe night.'
The burning object also created a stir on Twitter.
One witness tweeted: 'I saw a lot of red in it from my vantage point in Phoenix, as well as the blue and green tail.
Another tweeted: 'It was CRAZY! Green and going fast & then it just burned out.'
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor has confirmed there were no aircraft incidents reported in the Western region.




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5.7 Mag Quake Shakes Southern California

(source: Fox News)

USGS shakemap shows the earthquake epicenter east of San Diego, near the Mexico border.

SAN DIEGO -- The California-Mexico border region was rocked by a magnitude-5.9 quake Monday, rattling nerves from San Diego north to Orange County and Los Angeles.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered five miles southeast of Ocotillo in Imperial County -- about 85 miles east of San Diego. It struck Monday at about 9:26 p.m. PDT and has been followed by dozens of aftershocks.

San Diego County Office of Emergency Services made a round of calls to all cities in the county and found no reports of significant damage. Louis Fuentes, chairman of the Imperial County board of supervisors, said he had no immediate reports of damage.

"As soon as it hit, my wife said, 'Grab the baby.' My daughter ran out to the back yard," said Fuentes, who was in his garage in Calexico, about 30 miles east of the epicenter. "It thumped really hard."

Fuentes said his chandeliers swayed at his home and metal objects banged but nothing fell off the shelves. Imperial County suffered significant damage in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in April.

"All the lamps, the liquor bottles and the TV hanging from the ceiling shook, but nothing dropped," said Marina Garcia, an employee at the Burgers and Beer restaurant in El Centro, about 30 miles east of Ocotillo.

The quake was felt as a gentle rolling motion in the Los Angeles area and caused a momentary pause at the Toronto Blue Jays-San Diego Padres game in San Diego.

San Diego County Sheriff's dispatch supervisor Becky Strahm said some of her colleagues reported things falling off their shelves, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage or injury.

The quake follows a series of temblors that struck Southern California over the weekend, including a pair of moderate earthquakes that rattled a desert area east of San Diego. Residents in downtown San Diego could feel the ground rumbling during at least one of the Saturday quakes.

At least 20 aftershocks were recorded within 30 minutes of Monday's earthquake, with the largest measuring at magnitude-4.1.

More than 1,000 people reported feeling the shaking, according to online citizen reports compiled by the USGS. The strongest shaking was felt in San Diego County.

The latest quake struck just two months after the deadly Easter Sunday magnitude-7.2 quake that shook Baja California and Southern California. Monday's quake occurred in the aftershock zone of the Easter quake, said USGS geophysicist Rafael Abreu.

"It's still too early to say," if it was an aftershock, Abreu said.

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