Bright glowing object in night sky sends shock waves through Bangkok (VIDEO)

A brilliant green fireball meteor observed in the skies of Bangkok in Thailand has triggered end-of-the-world speculations among locals. The meteor – a sudden flash of teal green – streaked the skies of Bangkok on Nov 2 and was recorded on vehicle dash-cams at around 8:35 pm, local time. Reactions were no different than those seen during the fireball meteor in September 2015, with initial Bangkok news reports speculating that it was a part of aircraft debris, a crashing satellite, or possibly even a UFO. Others believed that the meteor could be the “beginning of the end.”

Interestingly, differently coloured fireballs were also seen over the US, UK and Poland. Though onlookers were shocked with the sudden and blinding display of colour, The Thai Astronomical Society has confirmed that the incident marks the beginning of the Taurid meteor shower. This annual event, beginning late October, continues through early December, providing often breathtaking and sometimes shocking views to onlookers.

The Taurid meteor shower is observed as a result of the Earth sweeping up rock and ice bits while moving through a wide area of debris made by a comet that passes through the inner solar system, reports the Weather Network. These meteors are actually small grains of dust and ice plunging through the atmosphere of the Earth, often at thousands of kilometres an hour. This causes the air in their path to compress, warming it up to fiery hot temperatures that produce bright meteors in the night sky.

The first sightings of the Taurid meteor shower came from Central Poland on Halloween night on Oct 31.

“It’s all burned away,” said Worawit Tanwutthibundit, an astronomer at Chachoengsao Observatory, reports The Independent. “The photo of the white smoke that has been shared a lot is in fact the train of smoke of a meteor. The public need not be concerned. This is a normal phenomenon.”