Hundreds of people reported seeing a “shooting star” in the skies over Scotland and Northern Ireland on the evening of September 14, but scientists have yet to determine what the bright streak of light was.
UK Meteor Network, the organization that observes meteors in the United Kingdom, stated that they began receiving reports of the light streak at 10 PM on September 14.
Scientists are using videos captured by the public to investigate whether the object that flew across the sky was a meteor or space debris and where it originated. However, they have not yet concluded whether it landed on the ground or burned up in the atmosphere, according to the BBC.
Meteor observation organizations reported receiving hundreds of accounts of the strange light streak flying across the skies of England. (Photo: UK Meteor Network).
UK Meteor Network mentioned that they are “investigating to determine whether the object is a meteorite or space debris.” The organization also noted that most reports they received came from Scotland and Northern Ireland, although the light streak was also observed in England.
The International Meteor Organization has received nearly 800 eyewitness reports from across the UK and Ireland. Most reports came from Central Scotland, but sightings were also reported from the Black Isle peninsula, the Isle of Skye, and London.
Space rocks entering Earth’s atmosphere are referred to as meteors, but fragments that survive the journey through the atmosphere and land on the ground are called meteorites.
Steve Owens, an astronomer and science communicator at the Glasgow Science Centre, described the sighting as “incredible.”
“I was sitting in my living room at 10 PM and saw a brilliant fireball to the south,” he said.
“Typically, if you see a meteor or a shooting star, they are just small streaks of light that last for a moment, but this streak lasted in the sky for at least ten seconds or longer. It moved from south to west. It was quite an astonishing sight,” Owens added.
A local captured an image of the light streak appearing in the sky over Saltcoats, Scotland. (Photo: Mark Rae/BBC).
Dr. Aine O’Brien, who works at the University of Glasgow, urged anyone who witnessed the event to report what they saw.
“At this point, we don’t know whether what we saw last night was a meteor or not. It could be, but another possibility is that it might just be a piece of space debris,” she said.
Scientists will use the videos of the light streak to determine its origin and track where it will land if it did not burn up in the atmosphere, Dr. O’Brien stated.
