VIDEO: Fireball stuns Irish residents as green streak lights up night skies

A GREEN fireball lit up the night skies over County Cork, Ireland, leaving onlookers stunned by the phenomenon.

Sean Linehan caught the amazing fireball on his dash-cam while driving near the town of Banteer. The footage showed a strange light with a greenish hue appearing overhead, travelling from the left of the screen to the right. Mr Linehan was driving at around 7pm on Monday night when the footage was taken.

He quickly uploaded the video to Twitter, with the caption: “Just caught this on my dashcam outside Banteer, Cork. Bright /fireball flashing across the sky. Footage doesn’t do it justice, very cool.”

People quickly responded to Mr Linehan’s post, stating they had also seen the rock.

Twitter user Alan McCarthy posted: “At the corner of my eye, while talking in kitchen outside #Courtmacsherry #WestCork, I’ve noticed the whole yard light up like a flash of lightning for a few secs but obviously it must’ve been the meteorite cos there wasn’t any thundery clouds!!”

The West Walk Ireland Twitter page also responded, and said: “Yes I saw it as well but I am in Mayo, it looked so close though & I could swear that it landed, but obviously not.”


Fireball stuns Irish residents as green streak lights up night skies (Image: SEAN LINEHAN • TWITTER)

astronomy ireland

Astronomy Ireland had several reports of the meteor (Image: ASTRONOMY IRELAND • TWITTER)

A spokesperson for Astronomy Ireland told the Irish Mirror: “We’ve had sightings all over the country. From Cork to Clare, Fermanagh to Dublin, Sligo, Galway.

“It wasn’t a firework folks, despite the week that’s in it! They don’t make them that big yet. Sounds like a meteor or a fireball.

“Thanks for the reports and keep them coming.

“Meteors are rarely expected. They’re just pieces of rock, or space dust colliding with Earth’s atmosphere and burning up.

READ MORE: Meteor shock: NASA footage shows huge explosion in skies above US


“Just caught this on my dashcam outside Banteer, Cork. Bright meteor/fireball flashing across the sky." (Image: SEAN LINEHAN • TWITTER)

“Comets are the ones we can predict.”

Meteors produce a bright explosion of fire when they hit the atmosphere as it is the first time the space rock has ever met resistance.

Air seeps into the pours and cracks of the rock, pushing it apart and causing it to explode.

The International Meteor Organization said: “Fireballs are meteors that appear brighter than normal.

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asteroid facts

Asteroid facts (Image: EXPRESS)

“Due to the velocity at which they strike the Earth’s atmosphere, fragments larger than 1 millimetre have the capability to produce a bright flash as they streak through the heavens above.


While this meteor was small, the bright flash reiterates the need for eyes on the skies to watch out for potential asteroid collisions.

While the chances of a major asteroid hitting Earth are small – NASA believes there is a one in 300,000 chance every year that a space rock which could cause regional damage will hit – the devastating prospect is not impossible.


NASA is sending the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft to Bennu (Image: GETTY)

However, there are some plans on the go which could help Earth against potential asteroid strikes.

NASA is currently studying Asteroid Bennu, where its OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft arrived last year.

Part of the reason NASA is sending the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft there is to gather more information about the space rock which is 500 metres in length.

NASA fears that the asteroid, which has the potential to wipe out a country on Earth, could hit our planet within the next 120 years, with the next close flyby in 2135.

The mission will give vital information on how to deflect asteroids from their collision course with Earth, but NASA reiterates that while there is a small chance Earth could be impacted, “over millions of years, of all of the planets, Bennu is most likely to hit Venus.”