Anyone out and about on Wednesday night might have spotted what looked like a huge fireball flying through the sky.
Well, experts have now confirmed that that fireball was in fact 'a small part of an asteroid'. Glasgow Live previously reported how residents were left stunned after spotting the amazing sight, which appeared over Scotland at about 9pm on Wednesday night.
The UK Meteor Network have now confirmed that they are '100% confident' it was a small part of an asteroid, which becomes classified as a meteor when it burns up upon entering Earth's atmosphere. The scientists say the end of the meteor's journey was not observed on their cameras, but it definitely ended over the North Atlantic Ocean around 50-100km west of the Isle of Islay, reports the Daily Record.
READ MORE: Glasgow residents stunned as 'huge fireball' is spotted flying over city
The UK Meteor Network said: "The final analysis is in! The fireball over NI and Scotland last night was definitely a meteor. The fireball observed yesterday (Sept 14, 20:59:40 UT) above the UK lasted over 20 seconds and traveled NW, passing directly over Belfast.
"The end was not observed on our cameras, but it definitely ended over the North Atlantic Ocean some 50-100 km west of the Isle of Islay.
"It came on an asteroidal orbit and entered the atmosphere at 14.2 km/s. The observed portion of the trajectory covered over 300 km. If any meteorites did fall, they ended up in the ocean.
"We have a great deal of more data thanks to Denis Vida and we are now 100% confident this was a small part of an asteroid."
Danny Nell, 21, was walking his dog in Johnstone, just west of Paisley and Glasgow, when he saw the fireball.
"I was walking my dog and it was strangely enough 10pm on the dot, and I just saw the flash in the sky and pulled out my phone and recorded it," the Glasgow resident told the PA news agency.
"I thought it may be a firework at first because there was a lot of Scottish football on but quickly realised it wasn't and just grabbed my phone to see if I could catch it."
Steve Owens, astronomer and science communicator at the Glasgow Science Centre, saw the fireball as it passed over Scotland on Wednesday evening.
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "It was incredible. I was sitting in my living room at exactly 10 o'clock last night and saw out of the window, due south, this brilliant fireball, this meteor streaking across the sky, and I could tell that it was something special because I could see through broken cloud.
"It wasn't perfectly visible; I could see that it was fragmenting, breaking apart, there were little bits coming off it.
"And normally, if you see a meteor or a shooting star, they are just tiny little streaks of light, they last for a fraction of a second, This one was streaking across the sky for at least 10 seconds - probably longer than that - and it travelled from due south all the way across to the west, so it was a pretty incredible sight."
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