A meteorite dazzled the early morning sky in Karachi, Pakistan, on Monday (March 17) as a "green" streak of light caught residents by surprise. People shared videos of the meteor shooting across as bright flashes creating a vibrant and rare spectacle. Social media was filled with videos of the celestial event that occurred right after the Fajr prayers. Some reports suggested that it created a loud impact.

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People caught the meteor on camera from several places in Karachi, with some watching the showers from their homes while others captured them on their dashcams on the roads.

Weather analyst Jawad Memon told DAWN newspaper, "On the night of March 17 at 2:43 am, a similar meteor was seen over the sky of Karachi and like thousands of others that have been spotted across the globe, it burned off over the skies of Karachi creating a streak of blue tone light during the burning process."

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Memon added that the meteor shower was not limited to Karachi but was also seen in many other areas of southern Sindh.

 

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Also Read: Asteroid hits Earth near California moments after being discovered

Notably, the Gamma Normids, a meteor shower, occurs around this time of the year between March 7 and March 23. It is named after the Gamma Normae, a star in the southern hemisphere's Norma constellation. The shower usually peaks on March 14 and 15.

A social media user wrote, "A big comet-type star has been seen over the sky it was huge, and green prevailed over the sky, and the comet was passed like a fireball."

What are meteorites?

Meteorites are space debris that regularly enter Earth's atmosphere. However, not all of them are visible and some of them die out as soon as they make their way it. Others burn into bright fireballs after entering Earth's atmosphere and fizzle out soon after. Some of them fall down as well, with meteor hunters locating them nearby.

Asteroids and meteorites in 2024

Several small asteroids and meteorites entered Earth in the year 2024. The most notable one was over California in October which was detected only moments before it crashed into the planet. It was reported over the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 km off the California coast. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) spotted it and reported that a fireball lit the skies at 3:54 am PT on October 22, 2024.