A giant fireball has been spotted streaking across the sky over the UK and Ireland.
The object, apparently a meteor, appeared in the skies at 6.54pm on Monday and was visible as far east as South Yorkshire, but was seen most clearly over the Republic of Ireland.
@CorkSafetyAlert @rtenews @Corks96FM Just caught this on my dashcam outside Banteer, Cork. Bright meteor/fireball flashing across the sky. Footage doesn't do it justice, very cool. #greatballsoffire pic.twitter.com/87ey9nvuhH
— Sean linehan (@LinehanSean) October 28, 2019
Driver Sean Linehan captured the “bright fireball” on a dashcam fitted to his car outside Banteer, Cork, but said the footage “doesn’t do it justice”.
Paddy Maher, from Laois, discovered he had captured the meteor on a security camera outside his house after reading about the sighting on Twitter.
@CarlowWeather I caught this on my wyze cam this evening at 6:54. #meteor pic.twitter.com/GdDfocbKc2
— paddy the plasterer (@Mucksavages) October 28, 2019
“I checked back on my cam that I bought new only last week,” the 35-year-old plasterer told the PA news agency.
“I was delighted that I caught a glimpse of it – I might keep the camera on the sky in future!”
Paul Willows spotted the meteor as a distant light while driving in South Yorkshire and also managed to record the moment on his dashcam.
@PeoplesAstro @VirtualAstro Anyone reported a large meteor/fireball tonight?Not the best video as it was on a dash cam and visible through trees.I was heading toward Rotherham from Conisbrough at 18:54 tonight and this would have been to my South/South West. pic.twitter.com/u8xzHkMxIL
— Paul Willows (@pcwillows) October 28, 2019
“It was a decent fireball that was visible for a few seconds beyond what I managed to capture,” the 45-year-old from Conisbrough told PA.
“I’ve seen plenty of ordinary ‘shooting stars’ but nothing as impressive or as big as that one.
“I’m a bit of a star gazer and spend a fair amount of time looking upwards but that was a first… I shouted out quite loudly!”
A meteor is a high-velocity body of matter from space which illuminates the sky due to friction with the atmosphere.
