Nine other sightings

Amazed and afraid by ball of fire

A brighter version of a meteor

Remember that ball of fire (which we hoped was Thor) that appeared in Johor recently?The Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) got back to us about what it was, and it's so much cooler than we imagined! It was an actual fireball!In a written reply to Rojak Daily, an official from MYSA said that they had gotten in touch with the International Meteor Organisation (IMO) about the incident.We previously reported about how netizens were puzzled by an online video showing a ball of fire blazing through the sky in Johor at around 5am on 12 February.According to the reply, IMO had informed MYSA that there were nine other fireball sightings which occurred in Italy and Austria on the same day."Therefore, on the incident reported in Johor Bahru, we believe it is highly probable that it was a fireball," the statement explained (to our delight!).MYSA said that when fireballs fall to the earth, the impact can cause damage or accidents but they did not receive any reports of damage relating to the incident in Johor.Meanwhile, Rojak Daily also got in touch with the person who first released the video of the fireball which was taken from a car dashcam.24-year-old Violet said that she was amazed and afraid after witnessing the ball of fire."It was quite scary because it changed colours as it was descending. First it was red, then blue, then white and then it disappeared," she said.According to the IMO, fireballs are meteors that appear brighter than normal and usually produce enough light to be seen upon entry to our atmosphere if they are more than a millimetre big.Due to the speed of entry, they can produce a bright flash which "often strikes fear and awe for those who witness them".Not so much fear but we're absolutely in awe! At least we solved the mystery, guys!