19-02-2025
Sky 'lit up' over area of Greater Manchester as mysterious fireball passes overhead
The night sky over Reddish was 'lit up' as a strange object passed overhead on February 19. James Garside had just returned from a late shift at work when he saw the 'fireball' passing overhead at around 3.40am.
Thinking quickly, James grabbed his phone and got clear footage of the object. Despite it being slightly misty the object is still clearly visible in the night sky.
It has a glowing red ball at the front, with a distinctive tail trailing behind it as it hurtles overhead.
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James, 27, told the Manchester Evening News that it had been so bright it had "light up the sky" as it went across.
"I just got out of the car and looked up," he said. "There was this red thing going across so I got my phone out quickly and was able to capture it. It was long enough in the sky so you could get a video."
He added: "It was a bit misty, you could see the moon through the mist, but this just lit up the sky going across."
After returning from a shift managing a construction site, James was left stunned by the mysterious object.
"It was just unexpected," he said. "It was like a fireball and it was going across the sky, it was west to east. It lasted a good 20 seconds and then it fades out."
And it seems that James might not be the only person to have glimpsed the strange object in the early hours of this morning.
The International Meteor Organisation (IMO) reported that it has received 300 reports of sightings of a fireball over areas ranging from Greater Manchester to Germany and Denmark.
Information on the IMO's website says that these sightings were the result of a "re-entry of a satellite or rocket" into the Earth's atmosphere and "not a natural fireball".
The UK Space Agency said that the body was a Falcon 9 rocket body launched in 2025. The Falcon 9 is a partially reusable rocket designed by SpaceX.
In a post on X, the UK Space Agency said: "The UK National Operations Centre monitored the re-entry of a Falcon 9 rocket body launched in 2025, which was seen from the UK re-entering this morning.
"We tracked over 100 re-entering space objects in January to help keep the UK safe."
