 Andrew Bartlett shot this photo of a meteor falling from the sky in Alberta on Thursday evening. Barlett shot this photo from his apartment balcony. (Andrew Bartlett/special to Sun Media)
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CALGARY -- Prairie astronomers are investigating following last night's excitement about a ball of fire observed shooting from the northern sky.
Alan Dyer, an astronomer with Calgary's Telus World of Science, said sky-watchers will gather all the photographs and videos taken from various observation points to study the mysterious celestial show last night.
People who saw the huge flaming ball reported it possibly fell somewhere between Alberta and Saskatchewan.
About 5:30 p.m., a huge flash of light briefly turned the dark sky into daylight.
Meteorite investigators will focus in the area of Lloydminster and North Battleford, Sask., where reports of house-shaking came from, said Dyer.
People got so excited that RCMP in Lloydminster, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, issued a news release asking people to stop calling them.
Police did say that if anyone saw where the meteor struck, they should contact police.
Marcel Gobeil was on his acreage west of Beaumont, waiting for his wife to come home at the time.
"All of a sudden I saw this big flash coming down and I thought somebody was playing tricks on me, like fireworks behind the house or something."
It's important to recover pieces of meteorite because it helps in understanding the solar system, Dyer said.
