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MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Around 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday, a bright object, initially appearing to be a meteorite, lit up the skies over Mexico’s capital, stretching plains, volcanoes and small towns.<\/p>\n
Videos of a ball of fire shooting over the Latin American country and dissolving in a burst of light over Mexico City struck awe in many \u2014 and quickly became the fuel for memes circulating on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, the meteorite that exploded last night isn’t an excuse to talk to your ex,\u201d someone wrote on X, over a gif of dinosaurs walking through a meteorite shower<\/a>.<\/p>\n Soon, photos of the apparent meteor edited with cartoon characters and political jokes flooded the internet.<\/p>\n But scientists across Mexico were quick to note that the object rocketing across the skies was not a meteorite; it was a bolide<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bolides, defined by NASA as fireballs, are \u201cexceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area.\u201d<\/p>\n Mario Rodr\u00edguez, a doctor in space science with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said it could also be described as a meteoroid, or a fragment of a meteor.<\/p>\n Bolides like the one that coasted over Mexican skies early Wednesday catch fire as they descend to earth.<\/p>\n “Due to the great pressure on the object, they begin to flash with a stretching tail and emit light,\u201d said Rodr\u00edguez, one of a group of scientists studying the videos that shocked many Mexicans. He said unlike meteorites, which impact Earth, a bolide disintegrates in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n This particular meteoroid, he said, was around five feet in length and posed no threat to the public.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n