OTD In Space - August 10: 'Great Daylight Fireball' Zooms Over North America - video Dailymotion

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On Aug. 10, 1972, an Earth-grazing fireball burst through the sky over North America.  It didn't hit the ground, but instead it passed straight through the sky. The fireball entered the atmosphere somewhere over Utah and passed northwards, leaving the atmosphere over Alberta, Canada about 100 seconds later. Analysis of its trajectory showed the object was about 10 to 45 feet in diameter, depending on whether it was an icy comet or a denser, rocky asteroid.

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00:00On this day in space. In 1972, an earth-grazing fireball burst through the

00:06sky over North America. It didn't hit the ground, but instead it passed straight

00:10through the sky. The fireball entered the atmosphere somewhere over Utah and

00:14passed northwards, leaving the atmosphere over Alberta, Canada about a hundred

00:18seconds later. Analysis of its trajectory showed the object was about 10 to 45

00:23feet in diameter, depending on whether it was an icy comet or a denser rocky

00:27asteroid. No one's really sure which one it was. And that's what happened on this

00:31day in space.

OTD In Space - August 10: 'Great Daylight Fireball' Zooms Over North America

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