For a short time on Aug. 21, Flin Flonners of all stripes, ages, races and backgrounds were united in asking one question: “What was that thing?”
A sudden flash across the sky, followed minutes later by a loud boom that shook the ground, was reported from people in Flin Flon and the surrounding communities.
Annette Banach was one of the people who reported seeing the “thing” – she was sitting on a deck with friends when they first spotted it.
“It looked like a flashlight had come down from above onto the deck, it was so bright,” said Banach.
“It was this really nice, baby blue hue. When we all looked up, we watched it, probably for about two to three seconds, streak across the sky. It had some green in it, a red tail, then kind of like a white tail after, it went away really quick.”
A few moments later, the ground shook.
“We heard this big boom and kind of felt the ground shake. It almost felt like a blast, an underground blast. It was really neat. The whole group of us were pretty enthralled,” Banach said.
When Linda McKay, a Sandy Bay resident, first saw the flash, she was driving from Prince Albert.
“It looked almost like a space shuttle, the way they shoot out. I’ve seen it on TV, but it was a very bright light. I could see that and there was a bright light at the tip,” she said.
“I almost hit the ditch. It took me forever to get here because I was so freaked out.”
Social media users came up with theories on what the flash was – a downed plane perhaps, an underground blast gone wrong, maybe a burning piece of space junk.
Home security video was posted – while the video is in black and white, it shows the night sky above Flin Flon suddenly becoming bright with light.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Manitoba Sustainable Development said the provincial ministry had “no insight or explanation” for the flash.
The Reminder reached out to Nav Canada, the company that owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation system, for any information relating to the flash. The group did not respond to requests for comment.
Some people even asked if aliens were responsible. Unfortunately for some, it appears unlikely extraterrestrials were involved.
Kevin Mogk, science communicator at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, described the sighting as a fireball or a bolide, a type of meteor with unusual brightness, after hearing first-hand accounts of the flash.
“These are pieces of space debris from asteroids or comets. As they come through the atmosphere, they burn bright and quick,” he said.
Mogk said fireballs or bolides can be visible for hundreds of kilometres at a time.
“In fact, that gives me a little more confidence that it’s probably what it was,” he said, when told of McKay’s account.
“We’ve had fireballs reported in Winnipeg that have been spotted in North Dakota.”
Mogk said anyone interested in helping scientists learn more about the flash could file a report to the American Meteor Society (AMS). The AMS operates an online database to track potential meteor sights around the world, allowing users from around the world to report fireballs and other atmospheric abnormalities.
As of Aug. 24, eight separate reports were made to the AMS regarding the sudden flash.
Banach filed one of the reports after quick online investigation of her own.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to monitor that,” she said.
