A meteor of exceptional brightness was seen flying over Belgium around 21:40 on Sunday.
The fireball travelled through the Belgian sky from the southeast to the northwest, according to the public observatory MIRA. Experts suggest that a fragment of the object may have reached the ground in the northwest of France.
Since the incident, the International Meteor Organisation (IMO) has received 583 reports submitted by amateur and professional astronomers. Analysis of the first 200 testimonies reveals France as the most represented country with 128 sightings, followed by Belgium with 54 reports (47 from Flanders), the Netherlands with 10, the UK with 6, and Germany with 2.
Witnesses described the meteor’s brightness as comparable to or exceeding that of a full moon, with the event lasting between 3 to 4 seconds in most cases, though durations varied from 1 up to 20 seconds.
"It was a highly luminous fireball," said Philippe Mollet from the MIRA Observatory. "Based on its intensity, it is believed that the meteor did not entirely disintegrate in the atmosphere and that a fragment likely fell to Earth."
The visible trajectory began at approximately 80 kilometres in altitude, above a region southwest of Paris, and ended at around 47 kilometres above Haute-Normandie, near Rouen and Le Havre.
A specialised camera network in France, part of the FRIPON programme, is now working to locate a potential impact site.
“Once the system calculates a probable impact location, researchers visit the area to search for meteorite fragments,” Mollet added. A meteor that falls to Earth and remains intact is classified as a meteorite.
The likelihood of a meteorite landing in Belgium is negligible. If a fragment did reach the ground, it is more likely to have fallen in northern France, on the English side of the Channel, or into the sea.
The Lyrid meteor shower is actively taking place at the moment. This shower is less well-known than the Perseids, which occur in the summer. It is possible that this meteor was part of it.
