‘Looked like a roman candle:’ people witness fireball in Sask. sky

The Land of the Living Skies lived up to its name early Monday.

A number of people said they witnessed a bright light with a tail shoot across the sky around 7:10 a.m.

“All of a sudden you see this big blueish-green streak come across due north. It was coming through the fog and clouds. It was really quite bright,” said Chad Parenteau, who captured the mystery light on his dash cam near Wakaw.

Shea Olson, who was driving northeast of Saskatoon near Aberdeen, also witnessed the phenomenon, which many believe was a meteor.

“Almost looked like a roman candle, but was a lot higher. A big green ball just came shooting across the sky,” he said, adding it lasted only a few seconds before it was gone.

Daryl Janzen, a departmental assistant in the physics department at the University of Saskatchewan, confirmed the sighting as a meteor.

“Looks like it’s a fireball, which is a bright meteor,” he said after viewing footage of the bright flash.

“It’s probably an asteroid hitting our atmosphere. This is probably just a larger one that burns brighter.”

Janzen could only speculate where the object landed, or if it landed anywhere at all.

The fireball could be a comet that completely burned up in the atmosphere. An asteroid has a better chance of remaining intact, according to Janzen.

“Even bright fireballs don’t all make it to the ground,” Janzen said.

Sightings were also reported as far away as Kyle and North Battleford.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker