2012 UK meteoroid

The 2012 UK meteoroid was an object that entered the atmosphere above the United Kingdom on Friday, 21 September 2012, around 11pm. Many news agencies across the UK reported this event.[1][2][3][4]

## Overview

Several theories were made as to the origin of the sightings - from it being a meteoroid to a UFO. Initially, the most prominent theory was that it was an old artificial satellite (i.e. a large piece of space junk) re-entering the atmosphere.[5][6] However, later analysis showed that it was highly unlikely to be space junk; it travelled too fast, towards the slow end of the range of possible meteor speeds[7] and, in addition, it traversed the sky from east to west while almost all satellites orbit from west to east or north and south.[8]

According to Finnish mathematician Esko Lyytinen, the meteor was captured by Earth's gravity and entered the atmosphere once again above USA and Canada 155 minutes later.[9] If confirmed, this would classify it as an Earth-grazing meteor.

## See also

* List of meteor air bursts
* Potentially hazardous object
* Near-Earth object
* Impact event
* Cyrillids

## References

1. ↑ "'Meteors' sighted in skies across UK". BBC News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20120923102054/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19683687.
2. ↑ "'Meteor' sightings across Scotland prompt 999 calls". BBC News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20120922184435/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19685161.
3. ↑ "Meteor 'Fireball' Lights Up Sky Across UK". Sky News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20120925045610/http://news.sky.com/story/988172/meteor-fireball-lights-up-sky-across-uk.
4. ↑ "Meteor mania: Watch VIDEO of huge comet spotted over north west England". The Mirror. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20120922020045/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/meteor-mania-huge-comet-spotted-1337427.
5. ↑ "Fireball in sky above Sheffield believed to be 'space junk'". The Star. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20121014175839/http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/fireball-in-sky-above-sheffield-believed-to-be-space-junk-1-4957584.
6. ↑ "'Meteor shower' over Northern Ireland 'space junk'". BBC News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20120923235849/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19683728.
7. ↑ "More on the 21 September 2012 fireball: why it definitely was a meteor". 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927171349/http://sattrackcam.blogspot.nl/2012/09/more-on-21-september-2012-fireball-why.html.
8. ↑ "Fireball over N-Europe on 21 September 2012, 21:45 GMT was likely NOT a reentry". 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20120925233007/http://sattrackcam.blogspot.nl/2012/09/fireball-over-n-europe-on-21-september.html.
9. ↑ Esko Lyytinen (28 September 2012). "Breaking News - UK Earth-hugging Asteroid Circled the Earth and Hit Again". LunarMeteorite Hunter. Archived from the original on 2013-05-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20130512182307/http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.fi/2012/09/breaking-news-uk-earth-hugging-asteroid.html.

12\. Phil Williams (January 2015) "The Meteoric Earth-Grazing Fireball of September 2012" Liverpool Astronomical Society Monthly Newsletter (January 2015, pp. 5–9)

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* t
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Modern impact events

On Earth|

| Pre-2000|

* 1490 Ch'ing-yang
* 1783 Great Meteor
* 1860 Great Meteor
* 1896 Madrid Meteor
* 1908 Tunguska
* 1913 Great Meteor Procession
* 1930 Curuçá River
* 1938 Chicora meteor
* 1947 Sikhote-Alin meteorite
* 1969 Murchison meteorite
* 1972 Great Daylight Fireball
* 1990 Earth-grazing meteoroid

|

Post-2000|

* 2002 Eastern Mediterranean
* 2002 Vitim
* 2007 Carancas
* 2008 TC3 impact
* 2008 Buzzard Coulee meteorite
* 2009 Sulawesi superbolide
* 2012 Sutter's Mill meteorite
* 2012 UK meteoroid
* 2012 Novato meteorite
* 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor
* Chelyabinsk meteorite
* 2014 AA impact
* 2014 Ontario fireball
* 2015 Kerala meteorite
* 2015 Thailand bolide
* WT1190F impact
* 2017 China bolide
* 2018 LA impact
* 2018 Kamchatka meteor
* 2019 MO impact

On Jupiter|

* 1994 Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
* 2009 Jupiter impact
* 2010 Jupiter impact

Lists|

* Asteroid close approaches to Earth
* Comets
* Bolides
* Meteor air bursts
* Meteorite falls
* Minor planets
* crossing Earth's orbit

See also|

* Asteroid impact prediction
* Asteroid impact avoidance
* Bolide
* Earth-grazing fireball
* Meteor procession
* Meteor shower
* Meteorite
* Meteoroid
* Near-Earth object
* Potentially hazardous object

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