Making a Meteor!

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

It was a particularly starry night and I was walking with friends to the local pub (5 minute walk). We commented on how bright the stars were and I mentioned the brightest/longest lasting shooting star I'd ever seen. I pointed at the sky and traced a line, mimicking how it had slowly crossed the sky. Just as I'd finished my trace a shooting star appeared right where I'd pointed and followed pretty damn much the exact line I had just drawn in the air. This was probably the equal of the brightest/longest shooting star I'd ever seen, lasting a good while and being exceptionally bright. It was jaw dropping and totally mind blowing, none of us could believe it, and we still talk about it now, 5 years on, as being one of the weirdest coincidences we've ever had. We've always wondered just what the chance of it occurring was. I've seen plenty of shooting stars, but this was a pretty special one, it wasn't during a meteor shower (I tend to keep track of them), and it appeared in the sky and followed the path I had pointed out. I'd be intrigued to know how you could work the chances of something like that out. Good luck!
Total votes: 184
Date submitted:Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:30:35 +0000Coincidence ID:5491