Like a scene straight out of an apocalypse movie, a neon green meteor streaked past an erupting volcano in the Philippines on Sunday evening (May 25), creating a truly unbelievable sight that quickly went viral.
The meteor did not, in fact, strike the side of the volcano, which is the only thing that could’ve put the scene further into the realm of sci-fi film, other than an alien spaceship following along behind it.
As the Philippine Space Agency reported, the fireball exploded in the skies over Mount Mayon at 10:33 pm local time.
The agency notes that most meteors burn up before reaching the ground, robbing us of the awe-inspiring spectacle moments like this create. Those that burst through the atmosphere without getting close to the ground become shooting stars.
Scientists referred to the moment as “visually striking,” and viewers online would have to agree. “Unbelievable timing! To capture two incredible forces of the Earth and the universe in a single frame is spectacular,” one wrote. “Seeing a meteor fall by Mayon Volcano during eruption? THAT’S nature at its MOST dramatic and beautiful. What a sight!” another said.
The eerie flash of green lasted only a second, but two livestreams monitoring Mount Mayon’s eruption were able to capture it. The first video is, in our opinion, untouchable, with the bright green of the meteor and the fiery orange of the magma fully on display. It comes from afarTV, who pointed out that the white light rising into the sky at the end of the video was likely light from a satellite (Twitter users are, of course, claiming aliens).
The second, equally impressive yet slightly less captivating, video comes from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Though it’s in black and white, you can still clearly see the flash of the meteor and the glow of the lava as it oozes down the slope.
afarTV perhaps put it best when they wrote: “On this night, a cosmic fireball and an erupting volcano appeared in the same frame — a rare meeting of space and Earth’s deep interior.”
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