bright 'mysterious flying object' streaking across the sky. SUPPLIED

Residents of Dubai reported seeing a bright 'mysterious flying object' streaking across the sky on Wednesday evening, leading many to speculate whether or not it was a UFO or a meteor shower. The uncanny object spooked some residents. Many people captured video of the moving space element and posted it online with several intriguing and amusing comments, one even terming it as a "night sky diver." Experts in the United Arab Emirates said the object hurtling through the sky was just space debris and is 'nothing worrying' about. Dubai Astronomy Group CEO Hasan Al Hariri said, "What everyone saw was space debris. When we talk about meteors, they move very fast. As it moves crossing the sky, from Earth it appears as a flash lasting for a few seconds. Let's take the example of the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor. It came to the atmosphere very fast, and it exploded causing massive devastation. The shock wave it generated shattered glass and injured hundreds of people." A small asteroid, roughly the size of a six-story building, broke up over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013. In the wake of this event, Nasa set up the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which uses information gathered from the agency's Near-Earth Object monitoring program. The office is said to be responsible for tracking potentially hazardous objects, communicating information about the same, and leading the coordination of response in case of a threat. BKM/ Expat Media
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