Israelis in central Israel reacted with bewilderment and some concern Monday to the sight of an orange-yellow ball of fire streaking slowly but surely across the early evening skies.
The flaming apparition was visible for several minutes from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea.
“It looked like a ball of fire followed by trail of flames,” Eliran of Herzliya told Channel 2 News.
Haim from Netanya said: “It could be a crashing plane, a meteor, I have no idea.”
A woman identified as Dana told Ynet she thought she was seeing “a missile or a shooting star…it was very strange.”
The mysterious object was finally revealed to have been an American cargo plane flying at high altitude — and there was probably nothing wrong with it.
Dr. Igal Patel, director of the Givatayim Observatory, explained: “The rays of the sun, coupled with gas emissions form the engine, were likely behind the orange contrail.”
