Doorbell Camera Captures Huge Meteor Soaring Through The Sky

More often than not, when Gary Rogers' doorbell cam detects movement outside of his home it turns out to be nothing more than a nearby hedgehog or fox. But at around 11.30pm on Monday night, the 52-year-old was taken aback when he realised it was a massive sky fireball that had understandably s*** up his doorstep device.

Reflecting on the moment, Gary, from Derby, UK, said: "I was in bed and was about to go to sleep when my phone pinged. I couldn't believe it.

"I thought it was a firework at first, but I listened to the sound and you couldn't hear any noise. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it. I thought to myself 'what is that?'

"At first I thought it could have been a plane crashing, but the footage clearly shows a large ball of fire. It was amazing to see.

"I've seen shooting stars before but never a meteor. I thought it's definitely not a firework, it was too bright for that. The whole horizon was lit up and there was no sound.

"I saw the trail first then it exploded into the sky. I knew then it was a meteor."

SWNS

Indeed, a meteor does seem to be the most likely explanation. Rob Dawes, chairman of Sherwood Observatory, said these flaming balls of matter enter our atmosphere frequently - though Gary was lucky to have seen one quite as impressive as this.

He said: "Mr Rogers was very lucky to get such a nice bright one. But you'd be surprised how many of these do come into the atmosphere at any time of year."

The dad-of-three seemed pretty pleased with the footage too, as it's made for a better conversation piece with friends and family than the usual grainy hedgehog footage.

He said: "I was expecting it to be a fox or hedgehog like usual.

"There was a huge semi-circular flash. It was really nice to see. I showed it to my son Euan and he was really excited. My friends have been saying it's like something out of War of the Worlds."

Yes, when the aliens launch their attack, they'll come for Derby first.

Topics: UK News, Interesting, space

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey