An asteroid hit Earth Wednesday, appearing like a ball of fire as it soared over the Philippines.
Locals watched in wonder as the space rock streaked through the atmosphere at 39,000 miles per hour and broke apart before getting close to ground.
Footage of the event appeared to show asteroid 2024 RW1 beam brighter than the moon over Luzon Island at 12:46 a.m. local time.
The asteroid was first spotted a mere eight hours before it entered the atmosphere, making it only the ninth object to be accurately observed before hitting Earth.
An asteroid hit Earth on Wednesday as it entered the atmosphere over the Philippines
The asteroid (pictured) was spotted eight hours before it’s due to hit Earth, making it the ninth time an object has been accurately discovered before it entered the atmosphere
The European Space Agency (ESA) renamed the three-foot asteroid 2024 RW1, after it was given the temporary title CAQTDL2.
‘Thanks to new observations, we now have a very good idea of where it will impact,’ the ESA said in the two hours leading up to the object’s appearance, adding: ‘Welcome to Earth asteroid 2024 RW1.’
People speculated the asteroid would still be ‘a good lightshow’ despite it’s small size while others praised scientists ability to predict where and when an asteroid would hit.
Many complained on X that they didn’t see anything or it appeared as just a flash of lightning, while one person wrote: ‘I hope someone is able to get the ‘fireball’ on video.’
‘Waited for the asteroid, sat atop of our foldable ladder to get a bigger view of the sky … and I saw no asteroid. Just bats.’
However, other users started posting pictures and videos of the asteroid within 20 minutes of it entering the atmosphere.
Viewers posted videos on X of what they claimed was the 2024 RW1 asteroid as it flew across the sky, appearing to look like a fireball
Videos came surging in on X as the bright asteroid shot out of the sky, with one person calling it the ‘Best shot so far!’ from Gonzaga, Cagayan, Philippines.
One person posted a video of the object, writing: ‘A faint flash in the sky is observed in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila as #Asteroid 2024 RW1 (#CAQTDL2) enters the atmosphere.’
In the lead-up to the celestial view, scientists assured that the asteroid’s small size meant it wouldn’t do any damage when it hit the ground.
According to a 2017 study, only asteroids that span at least nearly 60 feet in diameter are potentially lethal if they heading toward Earth.
The asteroid struck to the east of the Philippines on Wednesday at about 12:45 EST
The early sighting of the incoming asteroid is unique in that very few have been spotted before they entered Earth’s atmosphere, but experts reported that this could be a sign of things to come.
‘The really positive aspect about this is that the survey telescopes are now good enough to spot these things coming in and give us a bit of warning,’ Fitzsimmons told New Scientist.
This indicates that if a major space rock were to strike the planet and posed a threat to humans, scientists would have ample time to warn people to leave the area.
‘So this actually is a really nice demonstration that the current survey systems are doing a very good job’ Fitzsimmons continued.
‘We’re probably averaging about one small asteroid detected before it hits the atmosphere every year now, and the survey systems are only getting better.’
The ESA added in its post that ‘this detection is actually great news! This is … a sign of our improving planetary defense capabilities.’
