A massive green fireball lit up the skies over the UK, leaving witnesses stunned – here’s what caused the phenomenon.

A spectacular event turned night into day

A stunning celestial event was captured across the United Kingdom as a massive green fireball streaked across the night sky shortly after midnight.

The object was so bright that in some areas it briefly illuminated the landscape, making the night appear like daylight and leaving thousands of witnesses in awe.

Viral videos and eyewitness reactions

Videos recorded by home security cameras and smartphones quickly spread across social media, showing the glowing object moving rapidly before disappearing.

Posts from pages like North Yorkshire Weather Updates were flooded with comments from people describing what they saw.

“It was bright green and huge. At first I thought it was fireworks,” one user wrote.

Another witness said it looked like an explosion in the sky, while others joked that they thought they were imagining things when their surroundings suddenly lit up.

Why many thought it was fireworks

The intense green color and sudden flash caused confusion, with many initially believing it was a firework or even something unexplained.

However, scientists say the explanation is far simpler — and just as fascinating.

A meteor known as a “bolide”

Experts confirmed that the phenomenon was a meteor, specifically a bolide — an exceptionally bright fireball that explodes in the atmosphere.

According to NASA, these objects enter Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds.

As they do:

• they heat up rapidly
• produce a bright glowing trail
• often explode before reaching the ground

The green color is typically caused by metals such as nickel or copper burning during atmospheric entry.

What happens during atmospheric entry

As the object travels through the atmosphere, it creates a powerful shockwave in front of it.

The intense pressure and heat cause the object to fragment and eventually disintegrate.

In most cases — including this one — the meteor burns up completely before reaching the surface.

How common are these events?

Although they appear rare, fireballs like this occur more often than people think.

Thousands of such events happen globally every day.

However, most go unnoticed because they occur:

• over oceans
• in remote areas
• or during daylight hours