People across Manitoba were left awestruck Thursday night when a visitor from space lit up the sky. A ball of fire was seen streaking across the sky shortly after 8 p.m. and was seen across a wide swath of southern Manitoba and the Interlake, including Dauphin, Hecla and Swan River. “I thought it was going to crash right into the lake,” said Terry Martin, who witnessed it near Hecla Island. “It was right at my eye-level, right across. I might have lifted my head a little bit up at the sky, but not much, and it was fiery. It was a huge fireball.” Martin said she didn’t hear it make any sound, but it did cause a flock of Canada geese to scatter. Scott Young, the astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, said the object was bolide, a bright fireball meteor. He said it was likely the size of a basketball and either reflected off the atmosphere and continued into space, or burned up as it hurtled towards the surface of the earth. Young said it is unlikely the bolide will be found. “There have only been 15 confirmed meteorites ever found in the entire province of Manitoba throughout all of history, so the odds are not real good (of finding it),” he said.
