Meteor (Archive photo)
Photo: Tehila Shalev
Meteor seen passing over Israel
Citizens residing in north, central Israel report seeing object travel from east to west at great speed; some say it made shrieking sound 'like a missile'
A meteor was seen passing over Israel Tuesday night in many parts of the country. Ynet was flooded with calls from citizens residing in central Israel, the Sharon region, Jerusalem and the Krayot cities who reported seeing the object crossing the sky at approximately 8:15 pm. Some witnesses said they heard a shrieking sound.
Eyewitness Ranik Kortzman said, "I was in my balcony when I suddenly saw an object with two trails passing over Kfar Saba from east to west. It was travelling at great velocity and made a shrieking sound – like a missile."
Ram Raphaeli of Kfar Yedidya in the Sharon told Ynet "we were on the roof when my son turned my attention to a tiny object that was passing above us. It appeared to be a meteor with a trail. It was traveling horizontally at a relatively low altitude. We didn't hear any noise, but it flew by at great speed."
Yigal Pat-El, chairman of the Israeli Astronomical Association and the director of the observatory in Giv'atayim told Ynet that "meteors enter the earth's atmosphere all the time. This is not a rare occurrence.
"The reason we were able to observe this meteor is because it was relatively large. Most meteors don't weigh more than 1/1000 gram, and this one apparently weighed a few grams," he said.
