A flashing fireball moving across the skies of western Japan shocked residents, with experts assuring that it was a natural phenomenon.
On Tuesday, August 19, clicks and videos went viral on the internet, showcasing a bright light ball visible for hundreds of miles shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time.
Yoshihiko Hamahata, who was driving in Miyazaki prefecture, told the public broadcaster NHK, "A white light I had never seen before came down from above, and it became so bright that I could clearly see the shapes of the houses around us."
"It seemed like daylight. For a moment, I didn't know what had happened and was very surprised," the witness noted.
Toshihisa Maeda, the head of the Sendai Space Museum in the Kagoshima region in southwestern Japan, said it was an exceptionally bright meteor.
It appeared to have gone into the Pacific, adding, "People reported feeling the air vibrate. It was as bright as the moon."
As per the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), objects causing such fireball events can exceed one metre (3 ft) in size.
Notably, fireballs that explode in the atmosphere are technically referred to as bolides, although the term "fireball" is often used interchangeably.
