KEY POINTS

  • Regions in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy witnessed a large fireball darting through their night sky early Sunday
  • The American Meteor Society received over a hundred witness reports, which said it lasted between 3.5 and 7.5 seconds
  • The fireball did not produce any sound, according to witnesses

A brightly burning meteor was spotted Sunday by over a hundred witnesses in at least four countries in Europe.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 115 witness reports, the majority coming from France, about a fireball that zipped by the evening sky at around 12:42 a.m. EST/4:42 p.m. UT on Sunday.

According to the reports, the bright streak caused by the fireball lasted around 3.5 to 7.5 seconds, leaving many awestruck by the sight. The meteor did not produce any sound, witnesses said.

One witness, @flightlevel150, sent in a video of the event, showing the fireball darting through the night sky, highly noticeable due to its bright sparks.

The rare sight was seen by people in France's Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, according to the AMS. The bright meteor was also spotted in the skies above Piedmont in Italy, Vaud and Fribourg in Switzerland and Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany.

Several Twitter users discussed the fireball, with some noting that it was not considered a Geminid meteor.

Twitter user @SCAMP_Meteors wrote, "A huge #fireball over Burgundy (France) was seen by many people and by four #FRIPON cameras on Sunday. Sadly this 2kg baby asteroid burned up completely, so there's no #meteorite. It wasn't a #geminid."

A fireball is another term for a bright meteor that is more brilliant than the planet Venus. According to the AMS, several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth's atmosphere each day. The majority of these meteors, however, occur over oceans and other uninhabited regions, and a good many are also masked by daylight.

The general rule of thumb is that the brighter the fireball, the rarer it is. Fireballs can also develop two types of trails behind them -- trains and smoke trails.

"A train is a glowing trail of ionized and excited air molecules left behind after the passage of the meteor. Most trains last only a few seconds, but on rare occasions, a train may last up to several minutes," the AMS said.

Meanwhile, the Geminid meteor shower peaked Sunday night, showcasing as many as 150 meteors per hour. The Geminids occur each year in December when the Earth passes through a dust trail from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon and can be viewed by skywatchers and space enthusiasts from around the globe.

Geminid Meteor Shower
Pictured: Geminid meteor shower seen from Pawna Lake near Lonavala, on December 14, 2017 in Mumbai, India. Pratik Chorge/Getty Images)
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