Despite the sighting, a senior official with the National Astronomical Research Institute said there was no debris to support the theory it was a meteor. Saran Poshyachina noted that the image might have been a meteor burning up or junk from an old spacecraft entering the atmosphere.
The Bangkok Planetarium also stated that there had been no reports of meteorites landing. The spokesperson added that for the most part meteors burn up and disintegrate as soon as they enter the earth’s atmosphere.
Cynics who had not seen the spectacle would have dismissed it as a hoax if there had not been plenty of evidence to prove it. Porjai Jaturongkhahun was one of many who posted up online images of the fireball. The images posted up on YouTube were taken from Ngam Wong Wan Road in the northern Bangkok district of Chatuchak.
Eerie fireball streaks across Bangkok sky
News in Asia
Pedestrians and motorists in Bangkok witnessed the unearthly sight of a fireball streaking through the sky yesterday. Witnesses reported that the sudden burst of fire lit up the sky at 08:40 in the morning and was visible up to 100kms away in locations such as Kanchanaburi.