It's A Bird, It's A Plane? No, It's A Blazing Meteor Turning Japan's Night Into Day
A flashing fireball streaked across the skies of western Japan, astonishing residents and captivating stargazers. Experts said the dazzling display was a natural phenomenon, not an alien invasion. The bright ball of light was visible across hundreds of miles shortly after 11:00pm local time (14:00 BST), according to eyewitnesses and footage widely shared online.
'A white light I had never seen before came down from above, and it became so bright that I could clearly see the shapes of the houses around us," Yoshihiko Hamahata, who was driving in Miyazaki prefecture, said.
Meteor/fireball lights up Sakurajima volcano and Kagoshima City in Japan tonight ☄️ pic.twitter.com/WX9NZUwUUg — Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) August 19, 2025
He told local media, 'It seemed like daylight. For a moment, I didn't know what had happened and was very surprised."
Toshihisa Maeda, head of the Sendai Space Museum in Kagoshima prefecture, identified the phenomenon as an exceptionally bright meteor. He said it appeared to have descended into the Pacific Ocean.
'People reported feeling the air vibrate. It was as bright as the moon," he told local media.
NASA said that objects responsible for such fireballs can be larger than one metre (3ft). Those that explode in the atmosphere are technically known as bolides, though the term fireball is commonly used.
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August 20, 2025, 17:01 IST
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