Did Asteroid Just Hit Earth? Meteor Lights Up China's Night Sky Last Friday [WATCH]

A suspected meteorite appeared over northeast China last week and illuminated the sky. Local authorities and experts in the area are still trying to confirm if the massive fireball was caused by a meteorite.

The incident happened on Oct. 11 at 12:16 a.m. Beijing Time (Oct. 10, 12:16 p.m. EDT). According to various reports, a large fireball was spotted flying over the city of Songyuan in the Jilin province in China. It was also spotted by witnesses from the neighboring province of Heilongjiang.

Based on the footages of the object, which were captured using cars’ dashcams and security cameras all over the city, the fireball was so bright that it momentarily turned night into day. The object also didn’t appear to have broken apart as it fell to the ground.

According to the state-run news website CCTV Plus, experts and authorities in the area are still trying to determine if the bright falling object really was a meteorite. Currently, experts from the Purple Mountain Observer of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are trying to identify the exact nature of the object by analyzing the videos of the fireball.

The incident in China follows a similar event that happened in Chile a couple of weeks ago. On Sept. 25, several small fireballs were spotted over Delcahue City in Chile. The objects landed in various parts of the city, with some of them even causing fires.

After analyzing the objects and carrying out an investigation on the incident, geologists from the country’s National Geology and Mining Service released an official statement to clarify the nature of the objects.

According to the agency, the fireballs were not meteorites.

“Once in the Dalcahue area, geologists headed to the site examining the area of ​​the alleged impact. They worked on seven points corresponding to burnt thickets, where they found no remains, vestiges or evidence of a meteorite falling,” the agency said in an official statement.

After ruling out meteorites, experts believe that the fireballs may have been caused by falling space debris from a defunct satellite or spacecraft that’s in low-Earth orbit.