After a fireball meteor was seen falling to the ground in the night sky of Maoming, Guangdong, on May 31st, in the early hours of May 31st, a fireball meteor was also spotted in the night sky of Beijing, waking up residents in several districts with a loud bang from their sleep. This occurrence has sparked fear among the public, as last year Beijing witnessed three fireball meteors falling, which were seen as ominous signs.
Many netizens from areas such as Tongzhou, Shunyi, and Huairou in Beijing reported being startled awake by a mysterious loud noise in the early hours of May 31st while they were still asleep. Some witnesses described the spectacle of the dark night sky being illuminated.
Videos shared by netizens showed the sudden illumination of Beijing’s dark night sky by green “fireworks,” moving rapidly before violently exploding.
According to the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, their meteor multi-station video monitoring network at the Xinglong Meteor Observation Station captured this astronomical phenomenon. They recorded the process of the fireball meteor lighting up the night sky and automatically collected and calculated data from various stations to determine the trajectory of the meteor’s flight.
Dr. Li Zhenye from the School of Astronomy and Space Science at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed to the Beijing News that the event that streaked across the night sky of Beijing was indeed a fireball meteor. He pinpointed the time of the fireball meteor sighting to be 2:51 am on May 31st.
He mentioned that this event in Beijing was similar to the fireball meteor phenomenon observed in Maoming, Guangdong on the 28th, both accompanied by bright light and loud noises.
Prior to this, on the evening of May 28th around 9:30 pm, a fireball meteor was also spotted in the night sky in Maoming, Hainan, and other areas, leaving a long tail as it streaked across the sky. Local residents described the nighttime scene akin to daytime, accompanied by a loud bang.
On the evening of May 30th, netizens from various regions including Shandong, Hebei, Anhui, and Jiangsu filmed prominent blue-green fireball meteors in the night sky with long tails.
In the period from March to September last year, Beijing witnessed three instances of fireball meteors falling, turning into meteorites upon impact. On the day following the “National Martyrs’ Day” last year, a comet with a orbital period of over 60,000 years swept past Beijing.
In Chinese ancient beliefs that humans are interconnected with the heavens, ancient texts often refer to meteorites as heralding significant events or social upheavals—a forewarning of impending misfortune.
In the ancient astronomical and mathematical text “Yi Si Zhan” by the Tang Dynasty astronomer, mathematician, and prophet Li Chunfeng, it is stated, “Meteorites are messengers of the heavenly king,” indicating that the size of the meteorite corresponds to the magnitude of the event it foretells.
Following the Chinese Communist Party’s usurpation of power, there were two major meteorite showers that seemed to have ominous implications for the CCP leadership. On the evening of February 15, 1997, a meteorite shower occurred in Juancheng, Heze, Shandong, and four days later, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping passed away. In March 1976, the largest meteorite in the world fell in Jilin. Shortly after, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai, the three titans of the CCP, all passed away. That year also saw the devastating Tangshan earthquake, resulting in massive casualties and property damage.