In the early hours of Saturday, a meteor disintegrated in the sky over Puerto Rico as a commercial plane, JBU1714, was descending towards Ponce. The phenomenon occurred around 12:00 AM when the flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was approaching Mercedita Airport, where it would land 18 minutes later. According to Eddie Irizarry, Vice President of the Sociedad de Astronomía del Caribe (SAC), the meteor was a sporadic event caused by a space rock with sodium content that began to disintegrate upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
The SAC explained that space rocks typically disintegrate at altitudes between 48,000 and 63,000 feet, while the plane was at approximately 16,000 feet when the meteor was visible. Irizarry noted that it is possible the meteor was visible from the plane, but the SAC clarified that there are no documented cases of meteors impacting planes in mid-flight.
The SAC will host a free educational event at the Jardín Botánico de Caguas on Saturday, where attendees can observe meteorites.