A fireball caught on camera careening over St. Petersburg this week has likely plunged into a lake in western Russia.
Social media was awash with dashcam footage of the bright object streaking across the St. Petersburg skies late on Sept. 12.
Ural Federal University professor Viktor Grokhovsky said his research laboratory, working with colleagues from Finland, estimated that the meter-long and one-metric-ton bolide fizzled out before landing.
“Our Finnish colleagues are calculating the dispersion area,” professor Grokhovsky said. “According to preliminary information, it is the Lake Seliger area [in Tver region].”
The meteor, which has since become known the "St. Petersburg Metereorite," was also spotted over southeastern Finland and the Russian cities of Smolensk, Novgorod and parts of Moscow region.
A meteorite that crashed over Chelyabinsk in February 2014 weighed 10,000 tons and caused around 1 billion rubles ($33 million) damages. The 17-meter diameter stirred panic and resulted in over 1,000 injuries.
