More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A fireball lit up parts of Kent last night as a meteor raced across the sky.
Video footage shows the rock burn up overhead leaving a trail of orange flames with people in Medway spotting the phenomenon which lasted for just a few seconds.
The meteor was seen shortly before 10pm on Sunday night in skies to the west with scores of reports seeing the flash from Manchester to Bath, Devon and Milton Keynes.
The UK Meteor Observation Network (UKMON) said it received more than 800 reported sightings across the country.
The astronomical group estimates the meteor would have been visible from France and was directly overhead Gloucestershire when it entered the earth's atmosphere forcing it to burn up.
Fireball meteors are created when space debris and rock travelling at high speeds meet resistance such as the atmosphere as it is forced to slow down leading to excessive heat and the bright light is what we see from earth.
Witnesses in Kent took to social media after seeing a flash and hearing a loud noise and rumble similar to a train.
In other parts of the country, it is said to have been like a sonic boom.
UKMON said the meteor was moving "relatively slow" in comparison to other fireballs previously recorded but was still much faster than anything man made.
Observers believe there was fragmentation of the rock in the footage captured meaning there is "a good chance material survived the entry" and could be found on the ground.
Scientists estimate the meteor was travelling at about 30,000mph making it too fast to be "space junk" such as an old rocket or satellite.
Dr Ashley King of the Natural History Museum told UKMON calculations from the flight path meant it could be calculated the asteroid had been orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.
Some 50 tonnes of extra terrestrial material enters the earth's atmosphere every year.
Most of the matter is tiny sand size particles known as cosmic dust.
Astrologers predict 20 meteorites actually land in the UK each year but most are smaller than the size of a sugar cube, said Dr Sarah McMullan of the UK Fireball Alliance.
