Photo by Dogukan Keskinkilic / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A video featuring an object flying through the air in West Virginia has been shared on Twitter and has already garnered thousands of likes.
However, the object in the video is not a meteor or “fireball”, it is a contrail, which is created when exhaust gas from an airplane at high altitude mixes with water vapor at very low temperatures.
The AMS (American Meteor Society) has explained what a contrail is and how you can tell that the object in the video is indeed not a fireball or a meteor.
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Video of “Fireball” in West Virginia is shared on Twitter
On December 27, a video was shared on Twitter of something flying through the air in West Virginia.
The video has garnered thousands of likes, and many people have shared their theories of what it is, with many assuming it was a meteor or ‘fireball’.
AMS confirms there was no fireball in West Virginia
One of the reasons we know the video was not from a meteor is because the meteor falls through the sky in seconds and the video on Twitter is nearly two minutes long.
The AMS (American Meteor Society) says, “If you had enough time to reach for your phone to take a picture, it is definitely NOT a fireball. Fireballs usually only last a few seconds. Longer fireballs are extremely rare. “
What is a contrail?
Scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are compiling a fact sheet on Contrails.
The fact sheet states:
“Contrails are linear clouds or” condensation trails “composed of ice particles visible behind jet aircraft engines, usually at cruising altitudes in the upper atmosphere. Contrails have been a normal effect of jet aircraft since the beginning.”
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