The Sunshine Coast is renowned for its picturesque sunsets. On Feb. 12, several Sunshine Coast residents watching the sky observed a peculiar addition to the colourful sky.
Streaked across the horizon was what appeared to be a line of smoke or a condensation trail, except that it looked like it was “spiralling” or “falling” as residents remarked online.
Theories on what may have fallen out of the sky ranged greatly, some of the first reports thought perhaps a meteor had struck down somewhere near the Coast, however, this was quickly disproven.
Other guesses residents have made include pieces of a satellite falling from orbit, airplane debris or a damaged drone, but so far nothing is certain.
Charles Ennis, president of the Sunshine Coast Astronomy Club and an expert in the Sunshine Coast skies ruled out the extra-terrestrial, explaining that one resident captured a 10-minute video of the unidentified object, meaning it could not be a meteor or anything falling from orbit, ot it would be across the sky.
“If it was a meteor coming, it would be going like 35 kilometres a second … so it will be across the sky in seconds,” Ennis said, adding the event has left a lot of people scratching their heads.
Ennis speculates that it may have been a drone that had caught fire and was going down, but said it is difficult to estimate the height of the object based on the photos and videos captured.
Organizations including Environment Canada have been contacted for further details but did not get back to Coast Reporter before press deadline.
While it is not determined what was seen in the sky yet, the Sunshine Coast can at least rule out the interstellar.
“Definitely not a meteor, it’s way too slow,” said. Ennis. “What it was, precisely, I don’t know, but I know what it wasn’t.”
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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