Meteor lights up the skies over the city
A FIREBALL meteor was recorded in the skies above Cardiff on Sunday night.
SCAMP Finding meteorites, a UK network of all-sky fireball cameras that picks up meteors, reported a “bright fireball” being seen in the sky above the city at 9.54pm.
It was reported on Twitter with the comment: “Can’t wait to run the numbers and see what hit us.”
And it was not just in Cardiff. The UK Meteor Network, which also monitors meteor sightings in Britain, said it had received hundreds of reports from across the UK – with many people taking to social media to share their videos.
It said in a post on Twitter: “The reports are flooding in, 120 so far and counting. From the two videos we saw it was a slow moving meteor with clearly visible fragmentation.”
Sightings of the meteor were reported in London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Bath, Liverpool and Devon and Cornwall.
One eyewitness in Birmingham described it as a “massive fireball”, with others saying they heard a “sizzling sound” as it moved through the sky.
Another Twitter user said: “I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes! Most incredible thing I’ve ever seen it was like a firework!!!”
A resident of Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant, in Powys, said they saw it on Sunday night.
She said: “A wonderful sight, one I will never forget, truly amazing. My sister from another valley also witnessed it making it a even more special.”
A fireball is another term for a very bright meteor, generally brighter than magnitude -4, which is about the same magnitude of the planet Venus in the morning or evening sky.
In Leeds, residents reported hearing a loud bang that set off car alarms. Jon Maher took a picture of the meteor over West Yorkshire and it was also picked up on several doorbell cameras across the UK.