Giant fireball 'sets social media alight'

A giant fireball set social media alight on Sunday night as people questioned what they had just witnessed.

Some suggested it was an alien invasion, while others thought it may have been some sort of aircraft.

It was, in fact, a "sporadic meteor" according to Tolis Christou from the Armagh Observatory.

"This doesn't look like it's associated with any of the meteor showers of the year," he said.

"On average, we can see something this bright, if we are lucky, once a year," he said.

"The sparks we saw behind the meteor were bits falling off - the stress of our atmosphere causes it to disintegrate".

The meteor was recorded at 22:10 BST on Sunday evening, moving north west towards Scotland, where it was also observed.