Fireball! Meteor lights up the sky above London, Cornwall and more

The UK Meteor Observation Network confirmed reports of meteor ‘fireball’ sightings in the UK around 9:44pm (BST) on May 17. The fireball was seen as bright blue-green by people who witnessed the event.

The image and footage of the meteor fireball was captured on various door cams as well as by UKMON. (UKMON)

The UK Meteor Observation Network confirmed reports of meteor ‘fireball' sightings in the UK around 9:44pm (BST) on May 16. The fireball was seen as bright blue-green by people who witnessed the event.

According to Sky News, K Meteor Observation Network confirmed the News that a meteor ‘fireball' sighting took place at around 9:44pm on May 16. The sighting was visible in parts throughout the UK including London, Birmingham, Cambridgeshire and Cornwall. Another organization called the UK Fireball Alliance confirmed reports of meteor sightings on Twitter but did not capture any images or videos or the incident.

Dr Ashley King from the UK Fireball Alliance said, "A bright fireball was widely seen and recorded over the UK last night at 21.44 (BST). It was travelling from south to north over Dorset/Somerset area and lasted approximately 6 seconds,” He further added that “It was most likely caused by a rock from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter entering the Earth's atmosphere but 'went dark' at an altitude of approximately 40 km, so we don't expect any meteorites on the ground."

Users took to Twitter to describe the incident they just witnessed. One user wrote "Saw it here in Manchester, green/white, looking southwest towards the horizon." Another user described the meteor ‘fireball' as "bright blue-green, slowly falling and breaking up".

The meteor sighting on May 16 was the third sighting witnessed in the UK in May alone. May 12 saw another meteor sighting with a similar ‘blue-green' phenomenon taking place. Further meteor sightings are expected in the UK as part of the Eta Aquarids active meteor shower, which is expected to last until May 28.

What is a Meteor?

According to NASA, Meteors are objects in space which enter Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burn up, and are visible in the form of fireballs or “shooting stars”. They can range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Essentially, meteors are “space rocks.”