The friction of the atmospheric plunge shattered the meteorite and produced a spectacular fireball arcing across the northern sky.
The sun was setting over the Empty Quarter in a spectacular fireball as Surfer took a three wire and taxied to the edge.
Its fall from the sky generated huge interest worldwide at the weekend, with the possibility that its destruction would produce a spectacular fireball in the sky for anyone close enough to see it.
Pyrotechnic crews set up explosions, which are built to produce spectacular fireballs.
Dr. Sadek is trying to calculate the pattern of that spray and the spectacular fireballs, which consumed roughly a third of the fuel but did little damage themselves.
"A spectacular fireball," the announcer said, "and damage in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."
It was not to be, although the show was better than those of most off-years, and viewers in some places (the Canary Islands, among others) saw some spectacular fireballs.
The impact test flight occurred on December 1, 1984, proceeding generally according to plan, and resulting in a spectacular fireball which required more than an hour to extinguish.
The gas tank of the latest target exploded in a spectacular fireball.
The space shuttle's night view of the United States, complete with lightning storms and a spectacular fireball of a meteorite, is striking enough to elicit gasps.