An asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere and was seen lighting up the night sky above the English Channel, according to a report in the BBC. The shooting star effect occurred at 3am (local time) on Monday (February 13), the outlet further said. The little space rock was just one metre wide. The International Meteor Organisation (IMO) said it could be the source of a potential meteorite fall. The experts at IMO said the scientists will try to find the debris of the space rock for future studies.
The impact of the small rock, called Sar2667 as per the BBC, was predicted in advance. This is the seventh time that such a prediction was made, the outlet further said.
American Physicist and airburst specialist Mark Boslough from the Los Alamos National Laboratory told Wales Online that while "airbursts of this size happen somewhere several times per year" they are "rarely discovered in advance."
The European Space Agency (ESA) tweeted that it was "a sign of the rapid advancements in global asteroid detection capabilities!"
Manchester Evening News reported that the explosion of the asteroid was visible from across most of southern England and Wales - and as far south as Paris, France.
The footage of the space rock breaking up has been shared on social media by some users.
Even a Surrey policeman caught the asteroid on their dashcam and posted the footage on their Twitter handle.
The IMO said the object would have entered about 4km from the French coast.
The last asteroid predicted to enter the Earth's atmosphere in advance was seen in the sky above Ontario, Canada in November last year.
