Expert: Courtney Seligman - 10/30/2011

Question
I am having an argument with people who think a particular video shows a UFO, when I think that it looks just like a meteor.  They argue that meteors "can't change direction" - the trail on one frame of the video shows a dip in the path.  To me, it makes sense that a meteor might deviate from a perfect line due to having an irregular shape or losing mass.  They don't believe me.  I was wondering if you could please weigh in with your expert opinion.
Thanks,
Joot

Here is the context: http://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/ltrvv/did_anyone_here_catch_the_latest_fac

Sorry I sent you an email with the same question, but if you could respond here it would be even better, because the others will be able to see it.  I appreciate you taking the time!

Answer
Meteors (or more accurately, the meteoroids that produce meteors) can change their path, usually as a result of fragmentation caused by the heat and pressure of their passage through the air. Even rocky meteoroids, which may survive the trip to the ground and end up as meteorites, often do this. As an example, when a large meteoroid passes through the atmosphere, producing a "fireball" or "bolide", hundreds of pieces may be scattered over hundreds of yards, and in some cases, several miles of ground. If all the pieces continued in the original direction, they would all land in a small area; the fact that they usually do not is due to their changing direction as the object breaks up.

Aside from this, most meteoroids are of cometary origin, and may contain ices which can explosively expand as a result of their heating, scattering their paths even more. No part of such an object is likely to reach the ground, but if they could, they would be even more widely scattered than the rocky and metallic meteorites that do reach the surface of the Earth.