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Meteors & Meteoric Fireballs (Observed Aloft)

UNIDENTIFIED FIERY OBJECT


09:52 - 04 February 2005

The great bright light first appeared above the village of Iwerne Minster in Dorset, scorching a trail through the night skies. Just eight days later, an uncannily similar object was seen above Devizes, Wiltshire, and that same evening above Swindon.

This spate of UFO sightings last September was yesterday revealed in previously secret documents disclosed to the Western Daily Press.

The files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, sparked frenzied speculation among UFO experts that the West may have been visited by extra-terrestrials. "We should not discount the possibility," said James Bazil, a ufologist from Withywood, Bristol. "We've got three different accounts painting a similar picture.

"The West has been a hot spot for UFOs for many years. The longest ley line in the country runs from Dundry, near Bristol, down to Salisbury, and we think this may have something to do with it."

Ley lines are supposedly prehistoric routes across the landscape.

The classified files revealed that last year there were a total of 88 UFO sightings reported to the Ministry of Defence's UFO unit, five of which were spotted in the West Country.

The spree of West sightings began on September 24, when an object was reported in at 3.50am above Iwerne Minster. The observer said: "It looked like a great bright light and was really intense, like a big ball of fire moving rapidly to the ground."

A report from Devizes recorded an object that "looked like a big ball of fire coming down from the sky with a tail and sparks coming off the end of it".

That same day an orange object was spotted above Swindon.

Denis Plunkett, head of Bristol branch of the British Flying Saucers Bureau, said: "I think it's important we don't dismiss sightings like this out of hand. There is a pattern here, which suggests there could be UFO activity."

Although such reports might be discounted as meteor showers or astronomical phenomena, other sightings are harder to dismiss.

A report from Surrey on May 20 last year, describes a UFO as having "grooves and windows" but no room for humans. Even the MoD inspector notes that the "witnesses have seen it so clearly".

Det Con Gary Heseltine, of British Transport Police in Leeds, runs the database of police-reported UFO sightings, and he is convinced there is something out there.

He said: "After 28 years of investigating the subject I would have to say yes, and the public don't really get told what's going on.

"To my logical, police-trained mind, the officers provide excellent witness testimony, promoting the 'nuts and bolts' evidence that supports the extra-terrestrial hypothesis."

These latest files to be declassified by the MoD are not as complete as reports from 1976-77, which were released last month.

Hundreds of documents kept secret by the Ministry's special UFO department, known as S4F, detail many reports of a possible visit by extra-terrestrial life forms.

In July 1997, Flt-Lt A M Wood reported "bright objects hanging over the sea". The MoD document adds that the RAF officer said the closest object was "luminous, round and four to five times larger than a Whirlwind helicopter". The UFOs were reported to be three miles out to sea at a height of 5,000ft.
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Source
 
Mystery light in the sky

A BODLE Street Green resident saw what he believes was a meteorite as he drove from his home on Sunday morning towards Ringmer.

Philip Hale had just passed the gates to the old Laughton Lodge Hospital at Laughton at 9.55am when the object flew in down in fields to his right.

'It was a white object with a blue tail flame travelling very fast on a trajectory of about 45 degrees down to the Earth,' he said.

'The object must have crashed in a field.

'Did anybody else see it? Was it a meteorite or a fireball or what else could it have been?'

Mr Hale said the object was about 800 yards away and in his sight for several seconds.

'I didn't stop. Perhaps I should have,' he added. 'I'd never seen anything like it before in my life. There should be some evidence in the field of its impact.'

A spokesman for Sussex Police said nothing had been reported to them.
25 February 2005
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Whidbey, did you see this? I believe there was a very bright meteor in the same area last year as well.


Dozens Report Flying 'Ball of Fire'


Bright Streaking Light Seen in Western Sky

By WILLIAM McCALL
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Dozens of residents in the Pacific Northwest reported seeing a bright streak of light as it flashed across the sky, startling witnesses from southern Oregon to the Seattle area, according to officials.

Scientists said the flaming object was probably a meteor, and that it likely disintegrated before any fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean.

``It was like a big ball of fire,'' said Summer Jensen, who was in her living room Saturday night when she saw the flash of light outside her Portland home.

Michael O'Connor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's regional office in Renton, Wash., said he fielded numerous calls from people reporting they had seen a bright streak across the sky shortly before 8 p.m.

He said police, pilots and some air traffic controllers described it as ``a green ball of fire with a long tail.''

``It appears to have come down over the ocean,'' said Dick Pugh of the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory in Portland. He said the object flew over the Pacific Coast, streaking along from south to north.

Jim Todd, planetarium director at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, said that if a meteor had entered the atmosphere during the day, it may not even have been noticed.

``It creates a bright contrast against the night sky,'' Todd said.

Last year, a meteor that appeared like a fireball was sighted over western Washington state. In March 2003, residents in four Midwestern states also reported seeing a disintegrating meteorite flash across the sky.


03/13/05 03:11

© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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SOURCE
 
Source

Monday, March 14, 2005

A meteor, an outage, a quake, all in a night

By ATHIMA CHANSANCHAI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Washington residents who looked up at the sky Saturday night saw a great ball of fire ignite the sky. When they went back inside their homes, some of them found only darkness -- and no power.

Seattle utilities officials said it was just a coincidence.

"The power outages that affected the Queen Anne and Magnolia areas had nothing to do with any other phenomena," Sharon Bennett, spokeswoman for Seattle City Light, said yesterday.

Also unrelated to the fireball was the small earthquake that struck the Olympia area Saturday night, experts said.

Scientists said observers saw a fireball -- a large meteor -- streak through the sky across the western half of the Pacific Northwest shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration's regional office in Renton and local television stations reported calls from people from southern Oregon to Seattle.

The object zoomed over the Pacific Ocean, traveling from south to north, and likely disintegrated before any fragments fell into the Pacific.

Adding to the post-meteor buzz was another coincidence that lit up phone lines across the Northwest: A coal plant in Montana tripped off a power line at about the same time, causing lights in Seattle to flicker.

As for the larger outage, Bennett said a cable from a Broad Street substation failed, causing electricity to go out on street lights, the Ballard Bridge and in Queen Anne, Magnolia, Westlake and 15th Avenue West. The outage lasted from about 8:10 to 9:30 p.m. and affected 3,000 customers.

Meanwhile, a 3.3-magnitude quake occurred about 15 miles north of Olympia before 8 p.m. Saturday, seismologists said. Some Olympia residents suspected a connection to the fireball.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. P-I reporter Athima Chansanchai can be reached at 206-448-8041 or [email protected]
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Note the camera links.

Source

Edit: My apologies, this was actually dated Thursday, June 03, 2004

Thursday, June 03, 2004 - Page updated at 06:32 P.M.

Meteor lights up sky over Western Washington

The Associated Press
SEATTLE — A meteor about the size of a computer monitor lit up the Northwest sky early this morning, setting off sharp booms that stunned witnesses.

"There was some question as to whether it was a piece of space junk burning up, but it was not," said Geoff Chester, a spokesman for the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. "People always want to know, was it something we put up there coming down again? As far as I've been able to figure out, it was simply a rock falling out of the sky, as they are wont to do on occasion."

Chester said it was a type of meteor called a bolide, one which appears bright like a fireball in the sky.

Nothing unusual was detected on National Weather Service radar, and authorities also ruled out aircraft problems or military flight tests.

Toby Smith, a University of Washington astronomy lecturer who specializes in meteorites, said the skybursts were reported over a wide area around 2:40 a.m.

Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the Puget Sound region from the Tacoma area to Whidbey Island and as far as 260 miles to the east said the sky lit up brilliantly, and many reported booms as if from one or more explosions.

Video of the flash

Meteor images taken from cameras situated at Harborview Medical Center.
· Camera 1
· Camera 2
· Camera 3
· Camera 4
Requires RealPlayer

Jay Neher, a weather service meteorologist, said the agency's radar on Whidbey Island showed nothing unusual but added that the dish could have been pointed at another part of the sky at the time and could not detect objects above about 20,000 feet.

Civilian pilots reported seeing the flash from Ellensburg, east of the Cascade Range, said an FAA duty officer who did not give her name.

At Whidbey Island Naval Air Station about 40 miles north of Seattle, Petty Officer Andrew Davis said he and others saw the skyburst.

"It made a pretty big bang," Davis said. "We thought it could maybe be a meteorite or something."

In Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, about 260 miles to the east, Dick Haugen said he was driving to work at KVNI Radio when he saw a flash that he took to be lightning about 2:40 a.m. — then learned there were no lightning storms anywhere in the region.

Ralph Gaume, head of astronometry at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., said he knew of no likely source from outer space, such as a passing comet or meteor cluster or shower, but added that meteors commonly appear at random.

Astronometry is the branch of astronomy that measures the size and location of celestial objects.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
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Whoa, those camera clips were cool!!! Hell, that was bright, whatever it was. Didn't it come down somewhere? Wow!
 
Meteor shower sparks flurry of calls to police

Monday, April 25, 2005 Posted: 9:44 AM EDT (1344 GMT)


BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A meteor shower Sunday night sparked a flurry of frantic phone calls to police departments across New England from people who saw bright lights moving in the sky, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The meteor shower was seen as far north as Portland, Maine, and as far south as Long Island. Some witnesses apparently mistook the meteor shower for a plane crashing in Connecticut, the FAA's Holly Baker said.

"We've checked all around. There are no aircraft unaccounted for," she said.

The bright lights apparently came from the Lyrid meteor shower, which was scheduled to be visible to the naked eye between April 20 and April 25, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

"We're getting various descriptions of lights in the sky," he said. "Everything from green lights to planes going down."

Firefighters in Branford, Connectivcut, responded to several reports of a possible plane crash in Long Island Sound in the Thimble Island area, but a search did not turn up anything and was called off a short while later.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/25/meteor ... index.html
 
Fireballs seen over Germany spark UFO speculation

Fireballs seen over Germany spark UFO speculation

Numerous sightings of massive fireballs in the skies over Germany this week have led to an upsurge in reports of UFOs, but scientists believe the cause could be a bizarre annual meteor blitz.

According to the Web site of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), such fireballs have been reported elsewhere in the world and may also be due to the fact that the Earth is now orbiting through a swarm of space debris.

Many people in Germany have noticed the fireballs, said Werner Walter, an amateur astronomer in Mannheim who runs a Web site on unexplained astronomical phenomena and a hotline for reports on unidentified flying objects (UFO).

"The last reported sighting was yesterday at 7:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) in a corridor near the border of the Netherlands," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"This week we have had at least 15 emails and phone calls from people reporting these fireballs," he said. "Some people said it looks like something out of a science fiction horror film."

In addition to a possible meteor streak, Walter said amateur and professional astronomers were considering the possibility that the blitz was the result of a "falling satellite or UFOs."

"It is possible that they are UFOs, which are after all things which we cannot explain," he said.

NASA's science Web site (http://science.nasa.gov) mentions reports of recent fireball sightings in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, North Ireland and Japan. It includes images of the fireballs, which one man likened to a spotlight.

Walter described them as "super-large, colored fireballs that shoot with the speed of lightning through the sky."

However, the NASA Web site quotes meteor expert David Asher from the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland as saying that people "are probably seeing the Taurid meteor shower."

Taurids are meteors that shoot out of the constellation Taurus, which peaks at the end of October and early November.

UFO
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quite curious, as i was at the bus-stop on kirkstall road maybe ten minutes later, so must have just missed it... um, and someone has a funny idea of what a comet looks like!

What is this?

This 'large ball of fire' was filmed from a car on Kirkstall Road this morning. What is it?

Austin Greenwood got in touch with BBC Leeds to say:

"I was in a cab this morning at about 9:30am heading down Kirkstall Road (into the city centre) with seven others, when I saw what I'd describe as a large ball of fire in the sky. It seemed to be falling. It had a plume of smoke behind it going right across the sky. Possibly a comet or a something."

"I do have a video of it on my mobile phone."
From the mobile phone
video Watch the clip >
Audio and Video links on this page require Realplayer

BBC Radio Leeds' Bob Walmsley read out Austin's original email and described the video clip on air. Bob also heard from Ken Willoughby, chairman of the West Yorkshire Astronomical Society.

Ken had the handicap of not being able to view the footage but speculated that it might be a 'slow moving meteor'.

Sacha Christie sent another email to BBC Leeds saying:
Sacha Christie's picture from Water Lane
Sacha Christie's picture

"I write for UFO Data magazine. I was standing on Water Lane in the city centre when I noticed a bright light in the sky.

"I observed the anomaly and took a photograph of it on my camera phone. I can tell you now that the image has generated a lot of interest. It has been sent to NASA and will be used as their image of the day and we have been in touch with someone at RAF Fylingdales tracking centre.

Our conclusion at the UFO Data forum is that it is a piece of space debris burning up in the atmosphere which is not necessarily unusual but it certainly isn't common over Leeds. I can honestly say I was in the right place at the right time... for probably the first time in years."

So what do you think the feature is?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/arti ... ture.shtml

not sure what the video looks like as i can't watch it without installing realplayer... is it any good? (the meteor/space junk, not realplayer)
 
The footage is pretty wobbly, but it looks like a bright streak in the sky moving strangely slowly, possibly because it's so far up. Interesting, but it's probably just space junk as they say.
 
Lyrid meteors to grace the weekend sky

The oldest known meteor shower is expected to return for its regularly scheduled performance this weekend.

Although it is outshone by the December Geminids and the August Perseids, the Lyrids may provide the best opportunity for meteor observing in the next few months.

The annual Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak on the night of Saturday, 21 April. Observers in the northern hemisphere will have the best view, but it will still be visible for those in the southern hemisphere.

The meteors are bits of debris shed by a comet called Thatcher. They hit Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burn up, producing glowing streaks.

Dense streams
Discovered in 1861, Thatcher takes 415 years to orbit the Sun, venturing almost four times farther than Pluto's orbit at one end and a bit closer to the Sun than Earth at the other.

From a dark site, free of the sky glow produced by city lights, about 10 to 15 meteors per hour should be visible at the peak of the shower.

But there is a small chance that the Lyrids could put on a much stronger display. The stream of debris is not spread evenly along the comet's orbit – so in any given year, the Earth could pass through a particularly dense clump and produce a spectacular shower.

In 1803, the sky erupted with a dazzling Lyrid display that prompted a comparison to "a shower of sky rockets". More recently, in 1982, the Lyrids put on a show of 90 meteors per hour.

The first known appearance of the Lyrids was reported in 687 BC by Chinese observers, who noted that the "stars fell like rain". This makes the Lyrids the meteor shower with the longest recorded history.

The best time to observe will be about 0300 local time on Sunday morning, but meteors should be visible as long as the constellation Lyra is above the horizon.

Stretch out
Lyra contains the star Vega, which is one of the brightest stars in the sky. For observers at mid-northern latitudes, Lyra rises in the northeast at twilight and will be nearly overhead by 0300 local time.

To spot the most meteors, watch from as dark a site as possible. You do not need to stare directly at Lyra – the meteors will appear all over the sky, although their paths will seem to point back towards this constellation. Find somewhere to either lie down or stretch out on a lawn chair so you can look up without straining your neck.

The Lyrids will likely provide the best meteor display until the 13 August Perseid meteors. There are two other showers before then with strength comparable to the Lyrids – the Eta Aquarids on 6 May and the Delta Aquarids on 28 July – but the glare of the nearly full Moon will make these displays hard to see.

The Moon will be much less of a problem for the Lyrids, since it will be just a slim crescent this weekend.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/d ... d-sky.html
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Sounds like a meteor or random bit of space debris burning up...theres a video at the site.

The Daily Beast (The Times Really)

Mystery fireball baffles witnesses in TexasJenny Booth
A mysterious fireball streaked across the Texas sky yesterday prompting a flood of calls to the emergency services and news organisations.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office sent up a helicopter to look around after witnesses said that they had seen what appeared to be falling debris from a plane crash at around 11am local time.

Sheriff's spokesman John Foster said the search was inconclusive. “We don’t doubt what people saw; but authorities found nothing."

“We don’t know what it was,” confirmed Roland Herwig, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

"The tail was intact for several seconds, then became segmented," said Mr Lyon. "I conclude that the single object became several objects during incineration aftermath - a white tail remained visible for up to 10 minutes."

Matthew Donelon of Georgetown said he saw a very bright orangey-purple object dart across the northern sky.

"The object left a smoke trail for a distance and then went out," said Mr Donelon. "The smoke trail lasted for more than 15 minutes before it dispersed. There was no sound, so I estimate it was some distance away."

The US Strategic Command said it did not believe there was any connection with an incident last Tuesday when two satellites from the US and Russia collided, creating a cloud of space junk.

“There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry,” said Major Regina Winchester, with STRATCOM.

The FAA issued a warning to pilots on Saturday to be aware of possible space debris after the collision between US and Russian communication satellites.

The chief of Russia’s Mission Control says clouds of debris from the collision will circle Earth for thousands of years and threaten numerous satellites.

Some experts are now suggesting that the fast-moving Texas object was a meteor that burned up in the earth's atmosphere.
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Meteor turns midnight into daylight sky - Video
By Mike Stark, Associated Press
Thursday, 19 November 2009

A streaking fireball briefly illuminated parts of the Utah sky to daylight-level conditions, surveillance footage shows.

The video from outside security cameras at the University of Utah's Milford observatory shows a blinding flash of light around 12:07 am yesterday, followed by clear images of the object streaking away.

"It looks like a shooting star on steroids," said Seth Jarvis, director of the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City.

Although it's too early to say definitively how large the object was and how fast it was going, Jarvis estimated that it was about the size of an oven and was traveling at about 80,000 mph. It broke through the Earth's atmosphere and was probably around 100 miles above the ground when it became visible, he said.

It almost certainly broke up before it reached the ground, he said.

Patrick Wiggins, a volunteer with NASA's ambassador program, was sitting in his home observatory near Tooele when he saw the bright flash through his closed curtains. Several minutes later, he said he heard a sonic boom.

"It was like a low rumble, like thunder," he said.

Utah scientists on Wednesday said it's likely a meteor associated with the annual Leonid meteor shower.

Dave Kieda, chairman of the school's department of physics and astronomy, said meteor sightings aren't uncommon, but to see one this large — and to get much of it on tape — is unusual.


[Video: Fireball flashes night into day]

"These things are relics of the formation of the solar system. The more we find, see and study, the more we can say about that," Scotti said.

The near-ubiquity of security cameras and video cameras increases the odds that they'll be caught on tape. Using triangulation from different camera angles can help scientists map the trajectory path of these objects and increase the likelihood that bits of the space rocks can be recovered and analyzed, he said.

Scientists with expertise in meteors will use the university's footage to help estimate its size and trajectory.

"We just got lucky and had a surveillance camera pointed in the right direction," said Wayne Springer, an associate professor of physics and astronomy. Springer has been working at the university's new observatory, which is perched on Frisco Peak, about 175 miles south of Salt Lake City.

After hearing news reports about the meteor Wednesday morning, Springer cued up the surveillance tape.

"And lo and behold there it was, this big flash of light," he said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 23421.html
 
'Fireball' lights up Irish sky
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/nort ... 497600.stm

Artist's impression of a meteorite fall
An artist's impression of a meteorite fall

A fireball, thought to be a meteor, was spotted in the sky by people from all over the island of Ireland at about 1800 GMT on Wednesday.

People in Armagh, Craigavon and Omagh reported sightings to the police, and it was also seen on the Glenshane Pass.

The Northern Ireland Coastguard also took calls from people who believed the fireball had landed in Lough Neagh.

In the Republic, Valentia Coastguard said it took calls about sightings in Counties Westmeath, Limerick and Cork.

'Fantastic speed'

Joss Scott was driving along the Glenshane Pass when she spotted the fireball in the sky.

"It was a very bright green, with an orange trail coming from it.

"It was travelling at fantastic speed, very high up in the sky, and it was heading north.

"It then went behind these black clouds over the Sperrins, towards Dungiven, then there was this large orange flash, so I'm not sure if it landed somewhere around there.

"It was quite a spectacle," she said.

Terry Moseley from the Irish Astronomical Association said such an occurrence was "extremely rare" and said there was a chance that some of it may have survived and fallen to earth as a meteorite.

"What it probably was is a small asteroid, which is a piece of space rock which has collided with the earth and burned up at very high atmosphere," he explained.

"It seems to have travelled over most of Ireland, roughly from south to north and there is a possibility that a meteorite fell at the end of that, possibly somewhere in County Armagh."

'Pretty unusual'

He said it was very important for anyone who saw it to report their sighting and suggested contacting either the Armagh Observatory or the Irish Astronomical Association.

"We'll collate all the reports, and the more reports we get, the greater the chance of us recovering some of it, if it did fall.

"It is pretty unusual that you would get one that is so widely seen, and that is so bright."

Mr Moseley said there were "only about half a dozen" recorded meteorite falls in Ireland.

"The last one was in 1999, and the last one in the North was in County Derry in 1969," he said.

If you have any pictures of the fireball, please send them to us at [email protected]
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Wait a cotton-pickin' minute there! A 100,000 mph meteor? That is faster than any object orbiting the Sun. If the figure given by the Mail is correct, that meteor came from interstellar space. Somehow I think the journalists have messed it up again.
 
eburacum said:
Wait a cotton-pickin' minute there! A 100,000 mph meteor? That is faster than any object orbiting the Sun. If the figure given by the Irish times is correct, that meteor came from interstellar space. Somehow I think the journalists have messed it up again.
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Or it was a powered object...
 
A 100,000 mph meteor? That is faster than any object orbiting the Sun.
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Actually, Mercury is faster - 105,946 mph.

And according to Wolfram Alpha, the average speed of the Earth around the sun is 67,566 mph. But something in an elliptical orbit with a more distant aphelion would be travelling far faster than that when it crosses Earth's orbit. And if this something happened to be orbiting at an acute angle to the ecliptic, or even in a retrograde direction, the collision speed could well be around 100,000 mph or so.

(I'm not saying it was in the case of the Irish meteor, but it's not impossible. ;) )
 
Apparently 100,000 mph is quite reasonable for cometary, rather than asteroid, debris. So no extrasolar meteor required. Shame, really...
 
Meteorite fragments unlikely - astronomer
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 13279.html

PAMELA NEWENHAM

Wed, Feb 10, 2010

DIRECTOR OF Armagh Observatory Prof Mark Bailey has said it is “highly unlikely” any fragments from a fireball seen by thousands of people last week will be found.

However, David Moore, chairman of Astronomy Ireland, urged members of the public to continue reporting sightings of it and said a meteorite had probably landed somewhere in Co Donegal.

An estimated 100,000 people saw the fireball, according to Mr Moore.

He said there was an excellent chance the rock had landed in Co Donegal, but that it would be very hard to pinpoint it.

“If contact us and tell us where they saw it, we will be able to triangulate their positions and find it within a couple of days.”

Prof Bailey said it was “highly unlikely anything fell to land, and if it did, it is unlikely anything would be found”.

He said the fireball “probably didn’t produce a meteorite”, and if it did, the size “would be very small – less than a small stone”.

However, Mr Moore said it was “a rough rule of thumb that where a fireball is reported to be brighter than the moon, it is likely a meteorite dropped”.
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'Giant meteors' rain over the UK
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11757146

Meteor - generic Some witnesses said the meteor had a "massive tail"
Continue reading the main story
Related stories

* Meteor shower reaches second peak
* Skywatchers take in meteor shower
* Meteors cause flare alert calls

People throughout the UK have reported seeing giant meteors showering the darkened skies.

The BBC was first contacted by eyewitnesses in Glasgow, Scotlandwell and Durness who said they saw the light display at about 0540 GMT.

Then stargazers from Bury, Monmouth and Kidderminster emailed to say they saw a meteor at about 1715 GMT.

It is thought the spectacle is part of the annual Taurids shower, lasting from October into November.

The early morning meteor is reported to have broken into a number of pieces and it left bright streaks of light in the sky.

Douglas Thornton, from Scotlandwell, spotted it.

He said: "It was an off-white light with a massive tail behind it... A phenomenal sight."

Mr Thornton was on his way to Edinburgh Airport when he spotted the meteor while driving.

He told the BBC Scotland News website: "You can see shooting stars every night up where we are, but this was the most enormous streak of light. Enough to back-light the clouds and make them flicker.

"It was moving at an enormous speed. I first saw it in the direction of Auchterarder and by the time I lost sight of it about two seconds later, it was around the Dundee area."

David Wood, said he had just left Durness, on the north coast of Scotland and was heading south towards Kinlochberbie when he saw a "bright green, fairly jagged looking, object in the sky".
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

It exploded and went into three pieces which then burned out, but the main body of it was very big”

End Quote Jay Joyce

He said: "It had a very short, but very bright yellow and red trail behind it. It could have only been a few hundred meters above the ground.

"After my initial view I slowed the car and it broke in two. The larger piece eventually broke up into four smaller pieces which then dissipated into the darkness."

Philip Shaw, from Kidderminster in Worcestershire, said he spotted a "bluish trail travelling across the sky from east to west" at about 1715 GMT on Monday.

He added: "I was driving from Droitwich to Kidderminster - a long way from Glasgow.

"When I got home my wife said she had also seen a yellowish flash at about the same time, but from where she saw it I cannot be sure it was the same as the one I saw."

A similar meteor was seen last week by astronomy expert John Braithwaite while travelling back from giving a presentation to schoolchildren in Dundee - about meteorites.

Mr Braithwaite, who builds astronomical telescopes, said the meteor he spotted with his friend Jared Earle in the early hours of 12 November had been "80 to 90 times brighter" than anything else in the sky.
'Grain of sand'

"There was a very pronounced and bright head to the meteor, which was deep blue at the centre with a green fringe around it," he said.

"They're both probably part of a meteor shower which appears from between mid-October and November every year."

Dr Martin Hendry, from Glasgow University's astronomy department, said: "It certainly sounds possible that it's a meteor of some sort.

"From the descriptions of it being very bright and breaking up, it may have been somewhat larger than normal meteors.

"But even a grain of sand can produce the 'shooting stars' we see - very small objects indeed. It would not need to be that much bigger."

Dr Hendry, a fellow with the Science and Technology Facilities Council, said the different colours could have been a reflection of the different chemical compounds in the meteor.

He said it was possible the meteor reached earth, but that it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly where without precise compass bearings from the people who saw the object.
YOUR SIGHTINGS

At 5.40am saw huge, bright green light travelling East over Methven area, Seemed to be at the same level as road I was driving on, but on opposite side of the valley. Disappeared after few seconds, but very close and bright green.

From: Sheena, Perth

I had heard this report on the 5 oclock news on Radio Scotland this evening about ten minutes before I saw something. Basically I was driving south on the A9 and had crossed the Cromarty bridge when above Culbokie I saw a streak of white light cross the sky towards the Beauly area. It appeared to be very high and was moving extremely fast, much faster than even the fighter jets we see in this area. Initial thoughts were that it was a firework but I am more convinced it is not after looking at the picture of this mornings Meteor as that is exactly the type of thing i saw!!

From: Will, Culloden

I was leaving for work when I noticed the meteor passing from south to north. It was bright white/yellow and left a trail of sparks behind it. It seemed to move slowly compared to most other meteors I have seen. Very impressive!

From: Brian, Bridge of Earn, Perth

Travelling Peterhead to Aberdeen, when it suddenly lit up the southern sky at around 05:40. Appeared to cross over Ellon and continue North towards Inverness, breaking into three or four pieces which cooled quickly as they fell. Simply breath-taking. Never seen anything like it.

From: Allan, Boddam, Aberdeenshire

Tonight at around 5pm I was driving down the m90 just passed Kinross a bright ball of light shot past in the sky (couple of seconds max) I too thought it was a firework at first but it was so BRIGHT! - the most amazing sight

From: Randa, Dunfermline, Fife

Driving NE on the A41 (Shropshire) at roughly 17:15, saw a very bright shooting star moving from the East to North. It was bright and clear even though oncoming car headlights were in my eyes. Made a big wish !

From: Charlie, Newport, Shropshire

Pretty much as described by the chap from Scotlandwell, it seemed to be coming across from south to north & was by far the most extraordinary sight I have ever seen in the sky. I was fortunate enough to be out walking on this very frosty morning. I have seen many "shooting stars" before but this was very bright & seemed to be very low in the sky & extremely fast.

From: Donald, Inverness Scotland

I saw it around 740 am and it was huge in the sky, at first i thought it was a plane as it was so far away, it looked like it was coming in a diagonal direction. Good sight.

From: Ryan, Moffat, Scotland

I saw it on Monday afternoon when heading south on the Tay Road Bridge. Initially I saw one heading west and then I saw a second smaller one heading towards Leuchars which could only have been a few 100 meters above the ground. I thought it might have been a firework from the light green colouration but they were far too fast and high up.

From: Sarah, St Andrews

I was coming to the end of a night shift in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, when, at about 5.30 am, I noticed a very large, bright white light streaking across the sky, with what looked like a flame coloured tail behind it. We watched for a few moments then it disappeared into the distance.

From: Michael Morrice, Kilmarnock

Sitting looking west out of our patio doors at around 05:40 this morning, I saw a bright white-ish streak coming from roughly south west, crossing from left to right and disappearing over the horizon in the general direction of Perth. It was an exceptionally clear sky. It grew larger when almost immediately due west, turning a deep orange in colour and with a pronounced tail. It then seemed to become whiter again but still with a tail as it headed towards the horizon. It's the first time I've seen anything so large or bright in the sky and it certainly looked like a meteor. I never saw any obvious sections breaking off but there was obviously some sort of activity during the period when it became orange and seemed to grow in size.

From: Matt, Linlithgow

I too saw a meteor at around 0500UTC/15-11-2010. Turned and saw the last 5 seconds or so. Red'ish with a fragmenting tail. It was in the western sky, heading north. Very bright compared to any shooting star I've ever seen. But I'm no expert, so difficult to give an estimated magnitude. Personal reaction was, what the hell was that? Was an amazing site, unlike anything I've ever seen before. Felt privileged to have seen it. Insomnia has its benefits sometimes!

From: Shaun, Taunton, Somerset

When driving down m77 at kilmarnock ,very large bright blue white light on the right hand side ,headed out towards ailsa craig left a smoke trail in the sky.

From: Ben, Wishaw

I saw the meteor streaking across the sky around 5.15 pm from east to west as I travelled down the M74 approx 20 miles south of Hamilton. It was very bright and appeared to be heading down towards the eart rather than up like a rocket. As good as a Christmas present!

From: Paul, Moniaive, Dumfries

Whilst out walking the dogs last night (sun) 6.20pm i noticed a very bright orange light just above the light patchy cloud it was travelling quickly from east to west and i would say it looked to be travelling over longriggend somewhere when it just disappeared . thought it was a chinese lantern at first but it was moving far too quickly to be a lantern and far too bright . was it part of a meteor storm or could it have been a reflection of the grangmouth refinery flames?

From: Chris, Cumbernauld

When leaving for work at 0540 in the Parkhead area of Glasgow i saw what looked like a meteor (like you see in the films) coming from the direction of the new velodrome and flying very low over Celtic Park. I didn't tell anyone about it until i read this article incase they thought i was mad! I'm just sorry i didn't get a picture of this once in a lifetime experience.

From: Stuart, Glasgow

I was in Preswick Airport car park this morning when both my friend and I saw the meteor, from the car park we were facing back towards Glasgow. It was quite low in the sky and travelling from left to right, It was very much ablaze with flaming fragments falling from it. It gave the impression of great size, i.e. many times larger than an airliner.

From: Tony, Glasgow

I saw ball of fire around 5.40am on Monday 15th November 2010 whilst travelling north over the River Clyde. My view of it was very clear as it was visible over the the north west area if the city. I can only describe it as a large ball of orange fire with a burning tail. My initial thought was that of a burning jet liner but thankfully it wasn't.

From: Hamish, Glasgow

I saw a bluish trail travel across the sky from east to west as I was driving from Droitwich to Kidderminster ( a long way from Glasgow!) this evening at about 1715. When I got home my wife said she had also seen a yellowish flash at about the same time but from where she saw it I cannot be sure it was the same as the one I saw.

From: Philip, Kidderminster, Worcestershire

At 17:05 - 17:10 I saw a massive meteorite dropping over in the West towards Liverpool, it was a bright green ball and tail, biggest that i have ever seen.

From: Gordon, Northwich

It appeared over Coatbridge bright green then an orange tail shot out then it flew towards the campsies

From: Brian, Airdrie

I was outside, near Aviemore, de-icing the car at around 5.45am and conditions were exceptionally clear. I stopped to admire the starry sky when my attention was drawn to an unusually bright object. It was travelling from south to north, across the western sky. It was not the usual type of meteor, that normally appears as a streak of white light, over in a second or two. This was a large fiery red and yellow object, with small fragments breaking off like sparks. I initially thought that I was witnessing an aircraft disaster and was expecting it to explode at any moment, but it kept on going, finally breaking up into at least three large yellow fragments and disappearing behind the hills to the north of me. Very impressive.

From: Ron, Aviemore

Whilst walking my dog this morning, I saw the meteorite above Drumnadrochit, travelling roughly south to north, I have never seen anything like it, it was like a large firework rocket, travelling horizontally across the sky.

From: David, Drumnadrochit

I was walking my dog early this morning when I saw the meteor although at the time I just didn't know what it was. It passed over Loch Insh around 5.30am heading in a direction from the Cairngorms towards the Monadliath - the meteor was moving fast and was a vivid circular white light but it was completely silent which was really eerie. It was quite large and seemed to be very low in the sky at the point it passed me.

From: Sue in Kingussie

I was driving to work this morning through a place called Fallin in Stirling when over towards Forthbank Stadium above in the sky I saw a huge ball of light with a streak of flame behind it at first i thought it was a plane crashing that's how big it was it disappeared over then Ochil hills and seemed to burn up and break up into smaller pieces.

From: Keith, Stirling

I have just got from a walk and about 17.15 I saw the biggest meteor I have ever seen. it came from the east heading north. It was so big it looked like a rocket firework going horizontally across the sky. Fantastic!

From: Geoff, Monmouth, Wales

I saw the meteor this morning when I was travelling north on the M74 at Blackwood, it was the best show that i have seen in years. As a HGV night trunk driver driving to Warringing to and back five nights a week i have seen many shooting stars and meteor storms. Last night i seen a shooting star over Lancaster but the meteor over Glasgow was something else at first i thought it was an aircraft just because of the shear size of it.

From: Paul, Blantyre

I saw today most probabaly meteor around 17:15pm, it looked like very bright quick fireworks ball (that was my first thought shortly after bonfire night) but fireworks go up and down and make noise and this one was big and fast and running along the earth atmosphere. It was quite big because it made impression as it would be no higher than 1km.

From: Milosz, Bury

At approx 1715, my neighbour and i were outside talking, when this huge bright light with a orange and white tail went over us and it was really low it was amazing.......

From: Sharon, Radcliffe, Manchester

I have just got from a walk and about 17.15 I saw the biggest meteor I have ever seen. it came from the east heading north. It was so big it looked like a rocket firework going horizontally across the sky. Fantastic!

From: Geoff, Monmouth, Wales

Driving out from Glasgow this morning at 5.40 at Blanefield i saw which i could only explain as a trail of light about 10 to 15 feet long, travelling horizontally about 2-3hundred feet above me travelling left to right and lost sight of it, as it went over the Campsie hills.Couldnt believe my eyes as i've never seen anything like it before.

From: Graham, Balfron, Glasgow

I saw a bright green light falling through the sky at around 5.30pm tonight. It had a large pear shaped body with a tail behind it. I only saw it for about one to two seconds.

From: Simon, Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire
Click to expand...
 
Meteor fireball spotted in skies over Britain

Stargazers throughout the UK have reported seeing a meteor-like streak of light in the darkened skies.
The BBC was contacted by people in Scotland, the Midlands, Wales, and northern and south west England who saw the display at about 1740 GMT.

One witness driving home from work in Coventry said the light was a bit scary because it was so "incredibly bright".

Astronomers said the brightness of the meteor, a chunk of space rock burning up in the atmosphere, was unusual.
Dr David Whitehouse. astronomer and former BBC correspondent, said: "It's a bright meteor called a fireball, extraordinarily bright.
"This a chunk of space rock perhaps the size of your fist, perhaps a bit larger, that is burning up as it comes through our atmosphere at an altitude of 60 or 70 miles or so.
"So it sounds extraordinary if you're very lucky enough to have seen it; it's quite rare."

Tina Baxter was driving home when she spotted the meteor-like streak.
She told the BBC: "It was heading north and it appeared directly in front of me. It was travelling east to west.
"At first I thought it was a firework, but it was travelling at a funny angle - across then down.
"It was a bit scary because it was so massive and incredibly bright. When I got home, my brother was there, and he said he saw it as well.
"I would be surprised if anyone took pictures of it - it appeared for three seconds and then it was gone."

Keith Levitt, 67, from Aberffraw on Anglesey, said he went outside to empty shopping from the boot of his car at about 1740 GMT when he saw a bright light above.
He told the BBC: "Initially, I thought it was the light from a plane, then I suddenly realised it was a ball with bits coming away from it. I realised it was a meteor.
"It was a large object, I only saw it for two or three seconds. It was going in a low trajectory then petered out into nothing.
"I've never seen anything so large and so close. I've seen shooting stars but this was quite spectacular because it was so large."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11954932

More witness reports on page.
 
"Scientists said the major space event, which occurred at 5.35pm, was a likely precursor to the annual Geminids meteor shower, which is considered to be the best display of the year.

Astronomers say next week’s impressive space display will produce up to 60 explosions an hour at its peak. It will combine with the only total lunar eclipse of the year.

This year's Geminid meteor shower is expected to be the best display of so-called "shooting stars" and will peak during the overnight hours of Monday and Tuesday next week.

Professor Colin Pillinger, planetary scientist at Open University and head of Beagle 2 Mars lander project, said Wednesday night's event had left the astronomy world excited.
“It sounds like it’s going to be a good one this year,” he said. "

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/spac ... hower.html

(The Full Moon, when the eclipse will be greatest, is at 08:13 Tuesday, 21 December - but that's a week after the Geminid maximum!)
 
"up to 60 explosions an hour"

Explosions?! I bloody well hope not!
 
'Ball of fire': Pebble-sized meteorite above U.S. dazzles in night sky over seven states
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:14 AM on 13th January 2011

Streaking across the night sky, a stunning ball of fire shot across the south eastern part of the United States last night - dazzling stargazers with a bright flash.

Authorities say the mysterious flash of light - which could be seen from Oklahoma to the Florida panhandle - was most likely a meteorite.
The object, which was estimated at being no bigger than a pebble, was a stray bit of debris from a recent meteor shower.

Some reported a green tinge to the light, indicating that the rock may have contained traces of copper.
It was captured on camera by Bryan Bergon, who was out looking at the Orion constellation when he saw the bright light above.

The National Weather Service said they had received dozens of calls about the unidentified object in the sky.
Randle Drane, the Emergency Management Director in Copiah County, Mississippi, said residents who saw the light and heard a subsequent boom called to report what the incident.

'The volunteer fire department searched for whatever it was but didn’t come up with anything,' Mr Drane said.
The Sebastian County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas said the meteorite most likely hit near Poteau Mountain, Oklahoma.

Many reports incorrectly referred to the object as a meteor, rather than a meteorite. [?] The difference is whether the object strikes the Earth's surface.
If it vapourises in the Earth's atmosphere - or 'ablates' - it is a meteor. If it manages to reach the surface, it is a meteorite (a meteoroid is an object - too small to be an asteroid - which travels through space but does not enter the Earth's atmosphere).

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z1AuT93Wbf

The Mail has got its headline wrong - the thing seen in the sky was a meteor. Only if it actually reached the ground later would it be called a meteorite.
 
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