A large fireball exploded over Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia at 13:03 UTC (20:03 LT) on January 31, 2023.
The meteor allegedly measured from 1 to 5 m (3.3 – 16 feet), Sergey Veselkov, chief of the Reshetnev University observatory, told TASS.
“Undoubtedly, it was a bolide. Judging by its brightness, and it was brighter than the moon, the bolide measured several meters, between one to five meters. Such rocks, while flying in the atmosphere, burn up practically completely. However, a certain amount of matter may reach the Earth’s surface,” Veselkov said.1
Local residents told Pravda that they could hear a loud noise and some added that they could even feel their houses shaking.2
The meteor reportedly crashed in the area of the regional capital, the city of Krasnoyarsk.
According to Nikolay Palkin of the Siberian Federal University, the meteor most likely burned up in the dense atmosphere.
Another expert, Sergey Karpov of the Kirensky Institute of Physics shared the opinion that it might have been a bolide. But, in his words, it was much smaller. “To my mind, its size was from several centimeters to one meter. Otherwise, it would have caused a shock wave with sound,” he said.
1 Large meteor seen over Krasnoyarsk – TASS – January 31, 2023
2 Meter over Krasnoyarsk: Locals report their houses shaking – Pravda – January 31, 2023
