BBC Scotland News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Astonished Scots have captured a meteor streaking and burning brightly across the night sky.<\/p>\n The orange light and accompanying bang was spotted at about 00:50 by people on the Isle of Lewis, Stirling, Glasgow and in Argyll and Bute. <\/p>\n Gillian-Isabella McLaughlin, who was walking her dog in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, when the whole sky was lit up, said it was “the most thrilling sight” she had ever witnessed.<\/p>\n Meteors are so named when matter enters Earth’s atmosphere and often make a spectacular appearance as they burns and create streaking lights through the sky.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andy McNeill, who saw the event in Appin, Argyll and Bute, said: “There was a bright flash over the house which also caused the wi-fi to reset, and then maybe 20 to 30 seconds later an explosive bang. <\/p>\n “There was also contrail in the sky, striking broadly east to west.”<\/p>\n Rachel Sutherland, from Inverness, said: “I saw a bright flash but wasn’t sure what it was.”<\/p>\n Another observer at Glen Lyon in Perthshire said they saw a flash in the sky at around 00:50 followed a few minutes later by a rumble in the air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gemma Henderson, who saw the event from her living room in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, said: “I thought it must have been a lightning bolt. <\/p>\n “I have the lightning tracker app on my phone, so checked that and found that there had been no lightning present. <\/p>\n “Then there was a loud noise, so thought the tracker must have been incorrect. It was extremely bright.”<\/p>\n Merseyside lorry driver Ringolds Abolins spotted it while driving up to Glasgow on the M74.<\/p>\n He said: “It burned out in two to four seconds. It was so quick and was small green line behind.<\/p>\n “I thought in first moment it was a kind of rocket or missile.”<\/p>\n Other people have reported seeing a “bright flash” through their house window in Inverness, while others caught sight of the meteor from Jura.<\/p>\n HM Coastguard told BBC Scotland News it had received several reports related to the meteor overnight, including an alert to unidentified lights at the Tay Road Bridge at about 01:02.<\/p>\n A spokesperson said: “Broughty Ferry lifeboat was called to investigate alongside Dundee Coastguard Rescue Team and with nothing untoward found, the search was stood down. <\/p>\n “The sighting was believed to have been related to a meteorite shower reported across parts of the UK.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Astronomer Cyrielle Opitom said the meteor can be called a fireball due to how bright it was.<\/p>\n She told BBC Scotland News: “It’s a piece of rock that has entered the earth’s atmosphere, and that is something that happens fairly regularly.<\/p>\n “They can be very small asteroids or pieces of comets. We don’t know exactly what one it is yet.”<\/p>\n She said while meteors aren’t rare, seeing them inland during the night while the skies are clear is much less common.<\/p>\n “I don’t think seeing something that clear over Scotland will happen again for quite a few years,” she added.<\/p>\n She said not much is known about this particular meteor, including its size, but work will be carried out to establish if it landed or disintegrated in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"@adriancoll1](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b7ad\/live\/a6b6b280-57df-11f0-bac7-59e5f1e1335c.png.webp\")
@adriancoll1<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250701-150711-e3d94715db-web-2.24.1-1\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Cyrielle](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/f6fd\/live\/a12f1520-580a-11f0-81c2-eddd1d437243.jpg.webp\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMeteoroid, meteor or meteorite?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n