METEOR SHOWER. A screenshot of the video posted by netizen Janry Magsayo on Facebook shows the meteors falling down from the sky and became visible on Monday (Sept. 11, 2023) at past 8 p.m. at the northern Cebu's Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island and western portion of Leyte. PAGASA-Mactan head engineer Alfredo Quiblat Jr., allayed worries of some netizens the extraterrestrial phenomenon was made of debris of fallen rockets or satellites as its characteristics were more of a meteor shower due to its travel rate and the colorful sparks it produced while falling down from the atmosphere. (Screenshot from Facebook video)
CEBU CITY – As a colorful celestial event amazed the residents in Cebu province’s northern towns at past 8 p.m. Monday, the weather bureau here assured the public it was a meteor shower, contrary to the belief of some netizens that it was an unidentified flying object.
The extraterretrial phenomenon amazed netizens who managed to post on social media a video of the falling meteors, which they said was visible in northern tip of Daanbantayan town in Cebu, Bantayan Island, and the western part of Leyte.
Engineer Alfredo Quiblat Jr., head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Mactan station, said on Tuesday the phenomenon was likely a meteor shower because it produced colorful lights and explosion when it fell to the earth.
Although the astronomical section of PAGASA has yet to release an official statement, Quiblat said that based on the video that went viral on social media, the characteristics of the celestial spectacle could not be said to be falling debris of rockets or satellites, saying “there’s no reported rocket testing from our neighboring countries.”
Quiblat said a meteor travels seven to eight kilometers per second which is equivalent to 72,000 kilometers per hour as compared to the debris of a satellite or rocket which travels only at 25,000 kilometers per hour.
As a meteor is a rock that detached from the main rock formation called a comet, he added, it will usually produce a colorful ball of fire due to friction it creates in the gaseous states of the atmosphere.
“In my own opinion, nipabor sa (it was more on) meteors. It was reported that in this month of September, we have an Epsilon Perseid(s) meteor shower that is scheduled to be visible,” Quiblat told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
A meteor shower, like the one that was visible in Cebu’s northern area, produced bluish green and red sparks while falling down from the atmosphere.
Christian Mahipos, a netizen from Sta. Fe town, Bantayan Island, said he captured on cellphone video twin meteors falling down at the southern seas off the island.
Mahipos said he heard a loud explosion while seeing the object creating a colorful spark as it fell down from the sky.
As he encouraged the public to enjoy the colorful phenomenon of meteor showers, the weather specialist in PAGASA Mactan urged them not to put a negative connotation, stressing that “science and superstition could not be jibed at each other.”
Quiblat told the PNA that the bureau has not received yet any official report as to the exact location in Cebu where the reported meteorites have landed. (PNA)
