Amazing video footage shows the moment a meteor flying at 300mph came within metres of hitting a skydiver mid-air. Anders Helstrup had just deployed his parachute when the rock came flying past him. Experts believe it may have been a meteor in ‘dark flight’ – the part of its descent when it has stopped glowing. If so, this is the very first time the phenomenon has been witnessed and caught on camera.

Geologist Hans Amundsen told NRK.no that he was convinced what fell past the skydiver in south-east Norway was indeed a meteor. ‘It can’t be anything else. The shape is typical of meteorites – a fresh fracture surface on one side, while the other side is rounded,’ he said.

At the time Mr Helstrup had no idea a falling rock had flown past him – it was only thanks to a camera attached to his helmet that he spotted it. ‘I got the feeling that there was something, but I didn’t register what was happening,’ he explained. The skydiver and scientists from Norway’s Natural History Museum are now searching for the meteoroid but so far their hunt has been fruitless.

source: www.metro.co.uk

narrowly misses – alig kerüli el, majdnem eltalálja
mid-air – levegőben
to deploy a parachute – kibontani az ejtőernyőt
descent – leereszkedés, leszállás, leesés
to glow – égni, lángolni
to witness – tanúsítani, amit láttunk; szemtanúja lenni valaminek
to be convinced – meggyőződve lenni valamiről, biztosnak lenni valamiben
fresh fracture surface – frissen tört felület
to register – itt: észrevenni, regisztrálni
fruitless – eredménytelen

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