Blue fireball flashes in evening sky as comet fragment soars over Spain and Portugal

A comet fragment lit up the skies over components of Spain and Portugal in a single day – as one particular person stated witnessing the blue fireball “felt like a movie”.

The European Space Agency (ESA) shared a video on the X social media platform on Sunday which it says was captured by its “fireball camera”.

The company stated the blue gentle streaking throughout the sky over the western Spanish metropolis of Caceres was a “stunning meteor” travelling at roughly 28 miles per second.

However, it later stated the sunshine was from a “small piece of a comet” and never a meteor.

The comet fragment ultimately burned up over the Atlantic Ocean.

“The likelihood of any meteorites being found is very low,” the ESA stated.

Videos filmed from a number of cities in Spain and Portugal have been circulating on social media.

They confirmed the comet fragment crossing the sky at excessive velocity and illuminating it in vivid tones of blue and inexperienced.

NASA has stated magnesium creates a blue-green color when it burns in meteors.

The Spanish Calar Alto astronomical observatory stated a preliminary evaluation by Andalusia’s Institute of Astrophysics revealed the item had a “cometary origin”.

CCTV footage launched by the mayor’s workplace within the metropolis of Cadiz in southwestern Spain reveals the fireball crossing the sky at 12.46am native time (11:46pm UK time).

Read extra from Sky News:
Experts reveal when Northern Lights could possibly be seen in UK once more
‘Super fluffy’ planet greater than Jupiter found

The fragment was filmed streaking throughout the sky as a singer carried out at a live performance within the Portuguese metropolis of Barcelos.

Another video confirmed the skies of Porto, Portugal’s second-biggest metropolis, turning vivid for a number of seconds.

Many contacted emergency providers to report what occurred.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Emergency service 112 in Madrid instructed Europa Press information company it had acquired a number of calls.

Lisbon resident Bernardo Taborda, 31, instructed Reuters he was strolling across the metropolis with buddies when the sky abruptly turned vivid inexperienced: “It almost looked like daylight… we all looked back and saw it.”

He added: “It felt like a movie, we all looked at each other and we were stunned.

“It was wonderful.”