5:16PM, Sat Sep 22, 2012

Burning Through The Skies: UFO Fireball Caught On Camera

By Ruth Holliday Location: Tyne and Wear

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Picture gallery

The UFO above Downhill in Sunderland. Photo by Dave Robson @davyr_

Stargazers and night owls were treated to a dramatic display as a large fireball blazed a trail across the night skies.

It was seen breaking up into pieces, with sightings reported across the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Hundreds posted their pictures on Twitter, including Dave Robson @davyr_ who caught the UFO on camera over Downhill in Sunderland and Chris Harrison @hazza04 who photographed it above Corbridge in Northumberland.

Mr Robson told Sky Tyne and Wear: "I'd been out sky watching and on my way home I saw a massive bright object in the sky.

"It was whole at the time, it was travelling from the North Sea on my left heading over Sunderland.

"I didn't know what it was at first as it hadn't started to break up, just when it was above my head it started to break up and this is when I realised it was a meteor.

"It was heading towards Newcastle so it was clearly heading east to west. I couldn't believe how big it was or how slow it seemed to be moving.

"It was far and away the biggest meteor I've ever witnessed."

And Steven Lowery @Lowery01 captured it on video, click here to watch it.

The Met Office tweeted: "Hi all, for anyone seeing something in the night sky, we believe it was a meteorite."

Kielder Observatory reported the sighting of a "huge fireball" travelling from north to south over Northumberland at 9.41pm.

It posted on Twitter: "Of 30 years observing the sky, fireball best thing I have ever seen period."

But there was some suggestion the object could have been space junk which burned up as it reentered the atmosphere.

Jodrell Bank Observatory tweeted: "No real consensus on whether last night's spectacular fireball was a space rock burning up or space junk (bit of spacecraft)."