Bright. Fast. Unusual.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my lifetime… it’s just a big ball of fire,” said Joseph Reid, a Dublin resident, when asked about the unusual sighting.
Many people across Ireland and Scotland were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the ‘fireball’ that flashed across the night sky on Wednesday 14th of September.
It was a meteor. People were all amazed and got star struck just like Joseph on that random Wednesday night.
Described as a bright light that shot across the sky, many people managed to record on their mobile phones.
TikTok is a platform where people can post anything that catches their attention. Some of the recordings captured even went viral on TikTok reaching over 1 million views.
Sean Gerald, a 22-year-old from Kildare, also managed to capture the entire ordeal while sitting in his parked car along with his three other friends.
During an interview with Sean over the phone, he said that he “had seen shooting stars before, but it’s nothing quite” like what he saw that Wednesday night.
He managed to show a video, where the shooting star could be seen so clearly. Just like how people imagine a shooting star passing by it quickly made its way across the dark skies.
In the video taken by Sean and his friends inside the car, the feeling of excitement and disbelief can be heard and seen.
They gasped and asked: “What is it?!” as they continue to watch the phenomenon.
Sean described what he saw as he remembers how the feeling felt like.
“It was just so bright! And I remember being on my phone… catching my attention straight away…I’m so glad I got the whole thing on video,” Sean tells his experience over the phone.
Sean Gerald, 22
According to a reported article from BreakingNews.ie: “The UK Meteor Network said it had received almost 800 reports after the blazing orb was spotted in the night sky,” said PA Scotland reporter Katherine Hay on the report.
Scientists were determined to find out exactly what the so-called blazing orb was. They were able to use recordings sent in from members of the public to help them identify it.
In the report the UK Meteor Network stated, “we are 100% too small to cause any damage, like most meteors, and ended up in the North Atlantic”.
In a report published in 2016 on Space.com, thousands of small meteors, also known as meteorites, fall to earth every year but cause no harm or threat as they are too small to do so and end up in oceans or forests most of the time.
As meteors approach Earth, 90-95% of them burn up completely in the atmosphere. As they move downwards, they appear as a huge bright light in the sky. This explains the out of the ordinary sightings that left people shocked.
As they said, say your wish when a shooting star passes by…would you wish?
Or next time when a meteor shows up the sky, will you whip your phone out too or think it would be the scariest day of your life?
Actually, if you haven’t seen a fireball before… make sure to manage to check it out!