Sightings of a "bright green" fireball were reported overnight in Wales. The UK Network Fireball Alliance (UKFA) said the large fireball was spotted at 11.39pm on Wednesday, May 11, while some people heard a sonic boom.
Sightings were shared on social media from people across the UK including in Wales, Stockport, Southampton, London, Wigan, Manchester, Birmingham, Devon, Cornwall, Plymouth and Somerset. The UKFA is asking for images and any video footage to be reported to them. A witness in south Wales described the phenomenon as like "someone setting off a white flare beside me".
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Richard Kacerek, founder of UK Meteor Network (UKMON), told the BBC: "Last night at 00.39 UT 15 UKMON cameras picked up a very large meteor event that we call a fireball, [a] very bright meteor entering Earth's atmosphere over Somerset. Visually it was quite spectacular, with a green colour [with the] different colours usually pointing to the composition of the meteoroid."
The UK Fireball Network caught a picture of the fireball over the Bristol Channel at 11.39pm. Twitter user Wolfy said: "So I'm in Devon near Dorset and it went over us north towards Somerset and then I heard an explosion about a minute after. I have never seen anything that big in my life!
"It lit up the whole sky and then broke into smaller pieces but it was huge. Lit up the night sky blue then broke up into an orange colour." Twitter user Simon E, based in Somerset, said they saw a "streak of light in the sky and a loud boom over Bridgwater."
Planetary scientist Ashley James King tweeted saying 200 reports had been made of fireballs, adding reports are used to work out where the object came from and whether any meteorites had reached the ground. To get the latest news from across Wales, subscribe to our newsletters here.
