Residents in South Africa claimed to have seen meteor showers in three separate provinces in the country. These fireballs traveling across the sky have stirred up different reactions from people on social media. However, experts proposed the bright lights seen in the atmosphere weren’t likely meteors.
On Saturday, a trail of bright lights was seen in the night skies of KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and Gaetung in South Africa. Residents who witnessed it claimed the streak of flaming particles looked like shooting stars traveling across the atmosphere. Others wondered if it was part of the Geminids meteor shower, which occurs in December each year when Earth passes through a trail of debris from an asteroid.
Stargazers who were treated to this rare occurrence commented on the amazing display of lights. Some shared videos and photos on social media, stunned by what they witnessed.
Aside from the meteorite theories, there were also hilarious reactions from netizens. Some jokingly said aliens were coming to Earth, while others commented it was Santa Claus beginning his Christmas journey around the globe. One user even humorously claimed it was wealthy politicians escaping South Africa with their stolen money.
However, another user caught the attention of many on social media. Commenting on a taken photo of the sighting, she was concerned the fireballs seen in the atmosphere signify “the end of times.” Then she warned everyone to “Get ready, The Lord Jesus Christ is returning very very soon.”
This sparked mixed reactions from people, with some replying with “rolling on the floor laughing” and “face with tears of joy” emojis. Others, meanwhile, laughingly told her to chill:
“Loool relax.”—TistoBoyiye
“bro calm he’s not coming yet.”—kingkhym
“Relax my sister it’s called a meteor shower.”—Tokologo Morgan
Others left sarcastic comments and connected the sighting to cosmic events:
“Nonsense. These things happen a lot. It’s called a meteor shower. Amen.”—Maqhawe Khathide
“Lol, meteors pass the earth multiple times. What do you mean end times?”—Hey, it’s Morgan Freeman
“Familiarize yourself with National Geographics, NASA news and Space news. You can’t see cosmic events happening and think ‘Jesus is coming back’ all the time.”—The Sunshine
Meanwhile, there were those who denied Jesus’ existence or His coming:
“What’s likely to be believed between the two; 1) Jesus Christ is coming very soon! Or 2) Blackberry is coming very soon!”—Ernie
“How can someone who NEVER EXISTED come back, balance me plz!”—Batafoza75
“We’ve been hearing that fairytale since our childhood, we no more taking your s*** jesus story.”—@Mlungisi_Gabhisa
Nonetheless, there were those who agreed the return of Christ is near:
“A sign from heaven . Book of revelations spoke of all these stuff . 2020 Covid era marked the beginning of the closest to the return of Christ. Humans sinned through covid.”—The Trinity God
“Thank you for tweeting that. People need to wake up.”—Robbertor
“Yes the Lord Jesus is coming.”—BLESS
Meanwhile, a post on the Facebook page of Astronomy – ASSA Johannesburg Centre explained the shooting-star-like sighting wasn’t a meteor shower but likely debris from a rocket booster.
“Regarding the bright lights seen last night around 8.30pm, this was probably the re-entry of the SL-4 rocket booster from the Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a rocket which launched the latest cosmonauts to the ISS [International Space Station] on December 11,” the post read. “The lights had nothing to do with a comet, asteroid, meteor stream or the Geminids as posted variously elsewhere.”
Den of Faith 