A meteor over Scotland on Monday evening caught many by surprise, with numerous residents calling police to report a bright flash and a fireball in the sky. The spectacle also caused a stir on social media.
The meteor appeared to brighten the sky about 6:45 p.m. local time in northeastern Scotland, according to the
BBC News.
"What you've seen is a piece of rock from outer space that has crashed into the earth," Keith Horne, a physics and astronomy professor at St. Andrews University, told the BBC. "When it hits the atmosphere it starts to burn up... It releases all this energy into the atmosphere which will cause a bright flash and sometimes bits of this explode."
The BBC tweeted out a composite of different videos capturing it.
"I thought what the hell was that?" Jenni Morrison told
Sky News. She was driving from Westhill to Alford, Aberdeenshire when she saw the flash. "My son said it was a meteorite. It was like a light switch going on and off. Very surreal moment. I knew it wasn't lightning and it was kind of scary and amazing at the same time."
Authorities told Sky News that people reported hearing a loud bang along with their homes shaking on their foundations.
The meteor evoked a range of emotions on social media.
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