Thursday, 28 Mar 2024

Puerto Ricans spooked by blazing meteor

A streaking meteor soaring low over Puerto Rico amazed and unsettled residents already grappling with devastating earthquakes.

Puerto Ricans posted photos and videos of the fireball on social media after it passed overhead Friday afternoon — with some fearing that it was a crashing aircraft.

Eddie Irizarry, an astronomy professor in Puerto Rico and vice president of the Caribbean Astronomy Society, told the Associated Press the meteor was likely several feet long and was visible for about 10 seconds from all over the island.

“That makes it into quite a rare event,” Irizarry said.

A National Weather Service satellite spotted the fireball at around 4:30 p.m Friday.

Rafael Rivera was in northern Puerto Rico as it hurtled through the sky.

“It was a loud noise,” Rivera told the AP. “I see this ball of fire, very fast and very big, and I said, ‘Wow, that can’t be a plane because it’s going too fast.’”

Puerto Rico was still recovering from 2017’s Hurricane Maria and Irma when it was ravaged by a series of violent earthquakes — including a 6.4 tremor — last week.

It was reported earlier this week that the Trump administration would be ending its months-long hold of more than $8 billion in disaster aid relief for the island.

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