Fireball lights up the skies over the Highlands amid hundreds of reports nationwide as a meteor or possibly space debris tore across the night sky though some apparently wondered if it was a UFO
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A blazing light was spotted in the night sky over the Highlands on Wednesday evening with social media teaming with videos from surprised onlookers.
Some of the footage was quite dramatic and left one woman asking: “Did I legit just see a shooting star in Motherwell or is that something crashing out the sky?”
The green and white-coloured light was most likely a meteor or possibly space debris, according to experts.
Hundreds of sightings
Hundreds of reports were made to the UK Meteor Network, a community of amateur astronomers which records such events.
Some of the network’s 172 detection cameras also picked up the object which was seen over the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The network stated that it had received “83 fireball reports and counting” but that was updated within hours: “Most reports come from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Just surpassed 200.”
Earlier today, the UK Meteor Network said: "So far we have the event on two cameras but our network has 172 active cameras and because the event was too bright, it was probably eliminated.
"So far we know the event was a slow-moving meteor lasting 20 or so seconds.
"A lot of people across the UK recorded the event which appeared green in colour.
"We suspect it could be space junk as it was moving very slowly."
Speculation
The UK Meteor Network had to issue a request: “We appreciate genuine reports and questions but if you are going to tweet about aliens, ufo's or other nonsense, please do not include us. We are busy dealing with genuine reports.”
So could it have been extraterrestrial life forms?
No.
The most common metallic meteors are iron-nickel and when they are at their most visible entering the atmosphere it is common that they give off a green colour.
So the green light did not come from little green men.
However, there is a possibility that it could have been space debris – unused human-made objects usually orbiting the planet – falling back to earth.
