Spectacular 'meteor' shower over Britain

Thousands of people across the UK have reported huge fireballs streaking across the sky in what is thought to be a meteor shower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Hannah Furness, and Richard Gray

The display of bright lights streaked through the sky before fading away in the North of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, with people in Manchester, Leeds, Blackpool and Dumfries posting pictures of the event.

Astronomers had not been expecting a meteor shower to appear on Friday night and there were some suggestions that it could be pieces of space junk breaking up in the upper atmosphere.

The Met Office tweeted, however, that they believed it had been a meteorite.

Some observers initially wondered whether they had seen a UFO or fireworks before realising the spectacular lights were indeed meteors.

The described how the objects broke up as they travelled east to west across the night's sky, leaving an orange and green tail behind them.

 Fonte: http://www.telegraph.co.uk