Last night, a massive “multi-colored” meteor flashed across the sky above millions of Britons as a historic space launch took place in Cornwall.
The magnificent natural phenomena that lighted up the night sky on Monday left stargazers in England in awe.
Some people as far north as Wolverhampton, close to Birmingham, apparently saw the blazing fireball as it soared above London, Sussex, Wilshire, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon.
According to the Met Office, the meteor was originally spotted shortly after 8 p.m. The shooting star erupted into a ball of flames as it burned up in the atmosphere, as captured in incredible video footage.
The stunning shooting star was spotted across England as it burnt up in the night sky. This security camera in Wolverhampton captured the moment it soared over the city
The Met Office tweeted: ‘Reports of a meteor in the sky over the UK just now. If you managed to take any footage we’d love to see it’.
People took to social media to post footage they’d captured of the rare event – many on video doorbells or home CCTV systems.
One skygazer in Bristol captured the meteor on a Nest CCTV camera at around 8.01pm – as it headed east.
The meteor was so bright it startled stargazer Sophie Green – who feared the ‘world was ending’.
‘I saw it over Balham south London. Bright orange, so low, honestly thought it was a firework initially then I thought ‘the world is ending’. Grateful to have seen it,’ she tweeted.
The huge meteor was first spotted shortly after 8pm on Monday evening, with people nationwide sharing clips from their doorbell cameras
The stunning natural phenomenon lit up the night sky across England with its huge fiery tail
The meteor can be seen flying through the sky in one video, passing over a plane before exploding into the atmosphere.
One Chippenham, Wiltshire, resident remarked, “I couldn’t believe it. The sky suddenly lit up as I waited outside for a lift to work.
It was amazing, “a brilliant orange ball sailed over the sky.”
It wasn’t simply a shooting star, it was orange in the sky, a different person said.
A Twitter user described what they saw as a “big white ball with a crimson border and a lengthy tail resembling a trail of shooting stars,” adding, “I couldn’t believe my eyes.” Beautiful.’
Another woman reported seeing an object flying across the sky after she had “just switched my computer off and looked up out of the window,” adding: “It was great timing.”
Sighting reports flooded in, among them from Wolverhampton, Hertfordshire, and all around London.
Around 8 o’clock in the evening, Laura, who wished to remain anonymous, from Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, captured the flying object on camera from her front room.
Her video captured a light briefly gliding through the sky above a neighborhood for less than ten seconds before it vanished from sight.
She said, “I had just switched off my computer and looked up out of the window, it was ideal timing,” according to the PA news agency.
“It wasn’t a shooting star like I’ve seen before,” I said. It appeared to be really close.
It appeared enormous in the sky, was orange with an orange blaze behind it, and had a shorter orange tail than what I would have expected from a shooting star.
“Then it just vanished…” emerged from the sky. It appeared to have not actually occurred. They didn’t really believe my account when I tried to inform my husband!
Sightings were reported from London to Devon and up to Birmingham. Footage of the meteor showed it blazing through the atmosphere for several seconds before disappearing
Sighting reports flooded in from several locations, including Wolverhampton, Hertfordshire, and London.
From her front room, Laura, a Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, resident who wished to remain anonymous, captured the flying object on camera at around 8 o’clock.
In just under ten seconds, the light in her video above a residential area streaked through the sky before it vanished from sight.
The moment I turned off my computer and looked up out the window, it was ideal timing, she told the PA news agency.
It wasn’t a shooting star like others I’ve seen before. The distance appeared excessively near.
It was a gigantic orange object in the sky with an orange blaze behind it. I wouldn’t describe it as having a long shooting star tail; rather, it had a shorter orange tail.
Then it simply vanished. appeared out of thin air. It appeared like nothing had actually transpired. They weren’t completely convinced by my narrative when I tried to inform my spouse.
History was made in the UK on Monday night when a repurposed 747 jumbo jet – named Cosmic Girl by Virgin (pictured) – took off from Newquay Airport in Cornwall
The rocket was successfully released from the jumbo jet at 35,000 feet (around 10,000 meters) over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland at 11.10pm
But Virgin Orbit announced the rocket failed to reach its destination height on Monday night. Officials are pictured sharing the devastating news
“Getting to space is challenging, and vital lessons will be gained,” British astronaut Tim Peake said of the mission’s results.
According to Matt Archer of the UK Space Agency, the launch’s second stage experienced a “anomaly” whose root cause was being looked into.
At Spaceport Cornwall, he informed reporters, “In essence, the rocket has not reached the needed altitude to sustain its orbit or deploy the satellites and consequently the operation was unsuccessful.”
To ensure we comprehend what caused that technical breakdown, an inquiry including the Government and several entities, including Virgin Orbit, will take place over the next few days. We’ll then figure out what to do next.
At 10:02 p.m. on Monday, after all commercial flights had concluded, Virgin’s converted 747 jumbo jet, Cosmic Girl, departed from Newquay Airport.
People climbed onto one other’s shoulders to watch the jet launch as they cheered and danced to the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” as it took flight.
The mission, named after a Stones song from 1981, uses a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 that has been modified with a LauncherOne rocket from Virgin Orbit.
The Cosmic Girl 747, carrying the rocket beneath a wing, lifted off horizontally from the new facility.
A video grab taken from the live feed of Virgin Orbit of the Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket after it was launched from a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, at 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, as part of the Start Me Up mission and the first rocket launch from UK
Cosmic Girl, a converted Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747, lifts off from Spaceport Cornwall with a LauncherOne rocket for Virgin Orbit.
At 11.10 p.m., the rocket was successfully launched from the jumbo airplane over the Atlantic Ocean south of Ireland at a height of 35,000 feet (around 10,000 meters).
Nine tiny satellites were being carried by the rocket; some were for firms including those involved in navigational technology, while others were for UK defense monitoring.
Virgin Orbit stated in a series of tweets that “we appear to have an abnormality” that has prevented us from entering orbit. The data is being evaluated.
We’re deleting our prior tweet about reaching orbit until we learn more. When we can, we’ll provide more information.
I won’t lie, it’s gut-wrenching, Spaceport Cornwall CEO Melissa Thorpe said. “We all heard at various times, so once we came together, there were tears, and it was extremely painful,” she added.
I’m completely devastated, she said.
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