Fireball seen in Thailand likely a meteor

BANGKOK, September 8 (TNA) - Thai astronomers say that a giant fireball witnessed across the sky in Thailand on Monday morning was likely to be a meteor, urging the public not to be panic by the natural phenomenon. The Thai astronomers, including Dr. Nuanwan Sa-nguansak, Acting Director of the Regional Observatory, under the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT), in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima Province, NARIT Deputy Director Dr. Saran Posayachinda and Prapee Viraporn, President of the Thai Astronomical Society, assessed in the same direction that the fireball, observed by people in several parts of Thailand on September 7, was likely to be a space object, such as a large meteor, which was a natural phenomenon, not space debris or an old satellite. The senior Thai astronomers stressed that the public should not be panic, as there is no significant impact from the falling meteor, acknowledging that a “day fireball” can occur in any part of the world and it usually looks larger and brighter than any "night fireball” with smoke trail sometimes. Dr. Saran said, however, that specialists in an area in which the meteor crashed were examining and verifying the falling object before reporting to the public formally. (TNA)