Bright green fireball streaks over Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada

A bright green fireball was reported across Alberta and Saskatchewan at 02:43 UTC on February 16 (19:43 local time on February 15), with 41 people witnessing the event in both provinces. People from as far south as the Calgary area, north to Fort McKay, and east in the Grande Prairie region reported seeing the event.

The fireball displayed multiple colors, according to Dillon P., one of the observers who reported the sighting to the American Meteor Society (AMS).

“It went from a streak like a shooting star, then it exploded, becoming bigger and brighter in a greenish color,” said Dillon. “It lasted longer than usual and filled the sky. I was on Highway 2 going north, and all the vehicles started to stop,” he added.

Other reports indicate that the fireball also displayed colors such as orange, yellow, and red. “Glowing white, yellow, and edged with red (night sky, so easy to see),” remarked observer Edward B. from Chipman, Alberta, who also noted a concurrent sound accompanying the fireball.

“There was a sound burst, a flash of green, as if nitro slowed down the object, traveling in the opposite direction. Two bursts of ignition flared up bright green, like a highway green sign,” said Edward.

Reports indicate that the fireball underwent fragmentation, with some observers noting it immediately after the initial sighting.

Frank Florian, Senior Manager of Planetarium and Space Sciences at TELUS World of Science Edmonton, estimated the size to be about 1 – 2 m (3.3 – 6.6 feet) in size.

“Still fairly sizeable, which means that if it didn’t disintegrate totally in the atmosphere on re-entry, it could have scattered some little bits of rock somewhere in Northern Alberta,” Florian said.

Anybody else see this tonight?
byu/unr3altac0 inEdmonton

This fireball could indicate the start of the ‘fireball season’ — a period when skywatchers can expect an uptick in the sighting of bright meteors.

Fireball season is not linked to a specific meteor shower but rather seems to be associated with an increased density of sporadic meteoroids in Earth’s path around this time — those that come from random directions in space, unlike shower meteors which all seem to originate from one point in the sky.

The increased activity could be due to Earth passing through areas of space with more debris or simply a statistical anomaly where larger meteoroids happen to enter our atmosphere more frequently.

This period is particularly interesting because it doesn’t rely on the predictable patterns of meteor showers, making each fireball sighting potentially unique.

References:

¹ Fireball event 2025-950 – AMS – February 16, 2025

² Saturday’s fireball over Alberta could be first of many in coming months – CTV – February 17, 2025.