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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/April/theuae_April36.xml§ion=theuae&col=

DUBAI - Visitors in the Dubai Festival City on Sunday had a rare spectacle
- a silver-coloured object falling from the sky around 6.30pm.

The object could be seen for about 15 minutes heading towards earth but it
disappeared suddenly, witnesses said.

Experts said it could be a meteor.

A large number of people gathered to watch the phenomenon and took photographs.
Sachin Pradan, working in Dubai Festival City, was standing near the water front area when he
noticed the object falling. "I rushed inside and took my camera and clicked photographs. The object
was visible for about 15 minutes. I thought it was a falling star," said Pradan.

"This was the first time I saw something like this," said Pradan.
A photographs of the object revealed that it was silver in colour and was burning while it was
hurtling towards earth.

Jolly Mathew, another visitor, said, "I have never seen such a thing in my life. The object was
clearly visible but I don't know what it was."

Yousef Abdullah of Dubai Astronomy Group said the object could be a meteor that normally moves in
the solar system. "Normally, meteoroids are moving in the solar system. Sometimes they enter the
earth's atmosphere.
"In normal cases, the meteoroids burn out before reaching the earth due the pressure. If it hits the
earth, it can cause a big explosion and could be very dangerous," he said.

picture 1- http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/images/falling_010408.jpg
picture 2- http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/images/Falling1_010408.jpg

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Jan Rasmussen