"Bolide Meteor" to Blame for Aerial Light Caught on Doorbell Camera over England, Says Astronomer

A still image showing the light as it sinks behind a row of houses in the background. (Gary Rogers / SWNS) — A still image showing the light as it sinks behind a row of houses in the background. *(Gary Rogers / SWNS)*

Derby, England, resident Gary Rogers captured a dazzling ball of light in the sky on his doorbell camera at 11:30 pm last Monday, which astronomy experts are explaining as a bolide meteor.

"I was in bed and was about to go to sleep when my phone pinged. I couldn't believe it," Rogers said of the brilliant fireball. "I thought it was a firework at first, but I listened to the sound and you couldn't hear any noise."

"I could not believe my eyes when I saw it," he continued. "I thought to myself 'what is that?' At first I thought it could have been a plane crashing but the footage clearly shows a large ball of fire. It was amazing to see. I've seen shooting stars before but never a meteor. I thought it's definitely not a firework, it was too bright for that."

"The whole horizon was lit up and there was no sound," Rogers explained. "I saw the trail first then it exploded into the sky. I knew then it was a meteor. There was a huge semicircular flash. It was really nice to see. I showed it to my son Euan and he was really excited."

"I was expecting it to be a fox or hedgehog like usual. My friends have been saying it's like something out of War of the Worlds," he added.

Rob Dawes, chairman of the Sherwood Observatory just over 20 miles away in Nottinghamshire, said that what Rogers saw was likely a bolide meteor.

"Mr. Rogers was very lucky to get such a nice bright one,” Dawes said. “But you'd be surprised how many of these do come into the atmosphere at any time of year."

Bolide meteors are extremely bright bits of exploding space debris that burn up in Earth's atmosphere, and are often held responsible for sightings of fireballs.

These meteors have been blamed for other, similarly astonishing displays, including a spectacular fireball captured on camera by several residents of the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia last April, and a bright green fireball seen in the early morning hours of November 2018 over Akademgorodok, Russia.

Bolide meteors were also offered as explanations for mystery booms in California, Michigan, and Washington in 2018.

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