COUNTY - A bright sight in the skies in the western part of Lunenburg County during the November 18 supper hour is said to be part of the Leonid meteor shower.

 There was information from an ambulance travelling in the Italy Cross area reporting a fireball had fallen from the sky.

 Initial radio dispatches indicated a possible plane crash had happened. Paramedics were placed on standby as police rushed to find out more details.

 But the authorities came up with nothing. Police and Halifax's joint rescue co-ordination centre (JRCC) later confirmed no aircraft were missing, nor had any hit the ground.

 "We checked through JRCC and there's no aircraft anywhere in the area, there's no radar contacts of any kind and it was at the height of the meteor shower," Lunenburg County RCMP Cpl. Don Gray said.

 He said the paramedic saw "something burning in the sky," but it disappeared quickly.

 A meteor theory appears to be the best explanation, said Chris Rutkowski, a Manitoba-based UFO researcher.

 "The timing is right since the peak was [November 18] morning," he said.

 The Leonid meteor shower happens each year around this time. It's named after the constellation Leo and occurs in association with a comet.

 Mr. Rutkowski said, as of early November 19, he hadn't received any reports related to the South Shore sky light show.

 "The description of the object as a plane crash is typical and also that the flaming object seemed to fall to the ground a short distance away," he added.

advertisement

 "In reality, the fireball was high in the atmosphere, probably about 25 to 50 kilometres up, and was between a basketball and a bar fridge in size."

posted on 11/23/10