Security video shows a fireball meteor shooting across the sky above Braga, Portugal on Sunday, May 19.
Over the weekend, a blazing fireball flashed across the sky in parts of Spain, Portugal and France, momentarily turning the lights on in the night sky.
The International Meteor Organization (IMO) received more than 80 reports of a fireball over western Spain, Portugal, and France between Saturday night and Sunday. These reports went as far inland as the Spanish capital of Madrid.
MASSIVE FIREBALL LIGHTS UP NIGHT SKY ACROSS NEARLY A DOZEN STATES
“A dramatic fireball was widely observed and filmed over Spain and Portugal last night,” the IMO said on X, formerly Twitter.
CCTV video shared by the Cadiz Mayor’s Office in southwestern Spain shows the bright fireball streaking across the sky at 12:46 a.m. local time Sunday.
CCTV footage from the city of Cadiz in southwestern Spain shows a fireball shooting across the sky on May 19, 2024.
Another video from security video showed the meteor turning the sky a dazzling blue above Braga, Portugal, early Sunday morning.
Fireballs are meteors that appear brighter as the pieces of space dust made up of rock, ice and metal hit Earth’s atmosphere. The type of material that composes the meteor will determine the color we see on Earth as it shoots across the sky. According to NASA, meteors containing magnesium can create a blue-green light like those across Western Europe saw over the weekend.
A bright blue fireball seen over Braga, Portugal on Sunday, May 19, 2024.
(Pedro Branco /TMX)
A fireball will be brighter than any other object in the sky besides the Sun and the Moon.
According to the IMO, a true fireball meteor can survive the journey to Earth’s surface.