WATCH: Meteor lights up the sky over Jersey

Monday 06 September 2021

The sky over the Channel Islands was momentarily lit up a bright blue last night as a meteor whizzed overhead.

People in Jersey and Guernsey reported being startled by the sudden shot of colour through the dark sky around 22:45.

The striking sight shooting over St. Aubin's Bay was caught on camera by Air Rescue Channel Islands, who shared a video on Facebook in a post that gained more than 20,000 views within hours. 

But Channel Islanders weren’t the only ones to spot the glowing space rock – one commenter said it “flew over Exmouth” in the South West of England, and another in Dorset, while Michael Stuart in South Wales caught it on his CCTV.

To the south of the Channel Islands in France, the shocking visual was accompanied by what Le Telegramme described as “un grand ‘bang’” and a tremor.

It was observed across Rennes, Morlaix, Finistère and Morbihan among other areas.

One French commenter, who said they had been sleeping, thought it was an "earthquake or an airplane breaking the sound barrier."

Il s'agirait d'une météorite. L'objet lumineux est en tout cas bien visible sur la webcam du port et du barrage d'Arzal (#Morbihan), près de #Vannes #Bretagne pic.twitter.com/nMyz53Nq3i

— Nicolas Arzur (@NicolasArzur) September 5, 2021

Meteors are streaks of light seen in the sky when a piece of rock or metal from outer space enters the atmosphere at a high speed.

Most meteors break up before they make it to earth’s surface, but some chunks do survive their fiery journey and land.

The fate of last night’s remains unclear.

Pictured top: A still of the whizzing meteor captured on camera by Channel Islands Air Rescue.