The claim here is that a Norwegian skydiver wearing a helmet camera was almost hit by a Meteor, and that it was caught on his camera as it flew past him. If indeed true, then he clearly had quite a close call and if he had delayed his jump by just a few seconds then he would have been cut it two by the impact.
So having been shown the YouTube clip, I do have to ask myself if it is real because there are many viral ads out there that have been designed to tickle the mind and so motivate you into sharing.
OK, lets start with the clip itself – here it is …
- Do we see any blatant product placements? No we don’t.
- Apart from YouTube, is there a media source for this story? Actually yes, the story appears to come from a science program on NRK, the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organisation in Norway – That specific science program is a serious one, they don’t have a reputation for fake or dubious clips.
- Does what we see tally with reality? (or to put that another way, don’t Meteor’s potentially arrive at Hypersonic speed, and so is what we see too slow?) – What we see is what we would anticipate; It may indeed hit our atmosphere at Hypersonic speed, but the air pressure would then slow it down to what we see as it descends.
- What do the experts think? Steiner Midtskogen at the Norwegian Meteor Network is going with “Its real” (his analysis is here), and that is also the view of the astronomer Phil Plait here.
So yes, given what I know so far, there is nothing suspicious here nor any red flags, so I’m inclined to lean towards it being real.
In which case … wow … it would indeed be a first, an actual meteor caught on camera on its way down.