Watch meteor blaze across sky and explode with 'sonic boom' in Scotland

Stargazers across Scotland had a front row seat as a bright meteor was spotted in the night sky.

On Wednesday night, a bright orange light was seen shooting across the sky, and a loud bang was also heard.

People have reported seeing the meteor in Argyll and Bute as well as on the Isle of Lewis, Stirling, and Glasgow.

The object was seen by Adrian Coll while searching for his friend's missing dog at the roadside at Loch Long at Coulport Naval Base on Wednesday night. — The object was seen by Adrian Coll while searching for his friend’s missing dog at the roadside at Loch Long at Coulport Naval Base on Wednesday night. Adrian Coll

Meteors are bits of rock that burn up when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, creating streaking light across the sky.

Hundreds of Scots took to social media to share pictures of the bright light, with some reporting hearing a loud bang they assumed was an “earthquake”.

The object was seen by Adrian Coll at Loch Long at Coulport Naval Base. Adrian Coll

STV meteorologist Sean Batty said for a bang to be heard, the meteor was probably a piece of space rock bigger than a golf ball.

Dr Cyrielle Opitom from the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy said the meteor looked “fairly big” in nature.

The object, thought to be a meteor, was caught by Norma Macleod's CCTV on Wednesday night. — The object, thought to be a meteor, was caught by Norma Macleod’s CCTV on Wednesday night. Norma Macleod

While meteors are not uncommon in Scotland, Dr Opitom said this one looks “quite special” because of how bright it burned.

“We don’t know if there are any meteorites that have landed on the ground yet, but it would be really exciting as we could recover the rock from space and analyse it,” she told STV News.

The object, thought to be a meteor, left a trail that was still visible on Thursday morning. Adrian Coll

“All over Scotland and the UK, there are cameras from the Fireball Network, so I’m sure footage analysis is well under way. If there are meteorites, we can find them and work back their trajectory.”

Insight Sean Batty STV meteorologist

For a light streak and a bang (sonic boom), it’s probably been a piece of space rock that was bigger than a golf ball.

These bits of rock, which drift around space pepper planets occasionally when drawn in by their gravitational pull, but luckily, Earth has a protective layer (the atmosphere), which means many of these small rocks burn up and disintegrate on entry.

However, sometimes the bigger ones, say bigger than a bowling ball, will burn up on entry, but because of it’s size, some of it will survive the journey and reach the ground.

With this one spotted last night, it’s difficult to say exactly how big it may have been and whether any of it survived to reach the ground. The only way of knowing would be if someone found a piece, although it may have fallen into the sea.

The big boom is the sonic boom created because of the speed the meteor enters the atmosphere. It’s travelling at speeds way over the speed of sound, compressing the air and creating the boom we hear as it enters the atmosphere. It’s the same sound we used to hear when Concorde entered the speed of sound as it headed out over the Atlantic.

These sonic booms can sometimes be so intense that windows can shatter, although there have been no reports of that, so it’s possible the most intense boom has been over the sea.

There was a meteor in 2013 over Russia, which was estimated to be around 20 metres in size which created such a massive shock wave that thousands of buildings were damaged.

A great spectacle for those who spotted it, but also thankfully, by the looks of it, something small enough to just put on a bit of a show. Larger meteors are the ones to worry about, which could cause immense damage were they to hit Earth, but the good news is most of the bigger ones are monitored and tracked, although occasionally one can pop up which has been hidden.