Sott.net readers in Turkey are reporting that a meteor fireball lit up the night sky over the eastern city of Bingöl on September 2nd, 2015 at about 23:06 local time. The meteor appears to have exploded nearby because local residents later found what they believe to be meteorites. Several online Turkish news sites have picked up on the incident. The date and time-stamp on the following security camera footage appears to be correct:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xksft_i4pBU
The meteor was actually observed from a wide area of eastern Turkey, with eyewitnesses seeing the bright fireball from the cities of Elazığ, Muş, Diyarbakır, Tunceli, Erzurum and other surrounding towns. Local media has reported that some citizens were frightened by the light and an accompanying humming sound that appeared to be emitted by the object.
Eyewitness Mehmet Nezir Ergün from Sarıçiçek reported:
“A great light beam covered the whole village the night before last. The whole village was illuminated as if it was daytime. We first thought that it was due to armed conflict because it sounded like that to us. Then it sounded as if it was hailing on the roofs of houses. We could not understand what exactly it was. But the following morning, we saw that meteorites had fallen on the roofs of our houses.”
After searching online for information about the cosmic event, Ergün said he spoke with an associate professor from Bingöl University, who told him there was no relevant department at the university that could answer his questions. Ergün then placed a call to an engineer friend of his, who warned him that the stones might be dangerous to touch. However, as Ergün pointed out:
“Children in the village have been handling the meteorites since this morning. I did too. As these stones are from outer space, I was curious about their smell, so I smelled them! We do not know if these stones are hazardous in any way, but we expect officials to investigate the incident.”
Here are some photos of meteorites found by villagers, which they shared with local news media:
The frequency of meteor fireball sightings worldwide continues to increase. In the space of a month, overhead meteor explosions have showered meteorites in northern Iran and now eastern Turkey.