Police dashboard camera captures meteor fireball over a motorway

The meteor broke into pieces as it entered Earth’s atmosphere, and could be seen from the ground.

POLICE ARE MORE used to capturing criminals than astronomical phenomena.

However, that wasn’t the case in the early hours of yesterday morning. A police car was travelling along a motorway in the West Midlands in the UK just after 3am when the dashboard camera captured this short clip of a meteor fireball falling from the sky.

The West Midlands police said the meteor, which was visible across Wales and the west of England, is believed to have broken into pieces as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

The BBC reports that the green fireball meteor was observed by an observatory in Devon and was bright enough to cast shadows.

West Midlands Police / YouTube

Read: An ‘extremely bright’ fireball was spotted over Ireland >

Read: Russian dashcam captures meteorite falling to earth >

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More