Witnesses have described watching a green-tinged meteor flash across the evening sky last night.
The “fireball” shot over England and Wales in a northerly direction at around 9.45pm.
Experts believe the meteor might have formed from debris from Halley’s Comet.
Many observers took to Twitter to report the phenomenon with sightings apparently recorded in Cornwall, Hampshire, Lancashire, South Wales and Worcestershire.
Suzy Buttress, of Basingstoke in Hampshire, said she spotted the celestial body while driving along the M3.
She wrote on Twitter: “I have just seen the biggest meteor in my life! It was also noticeably green, and appeared very large compared to regular meteors I’ve seen.”
Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock said the meteor’s size was unusual.
“It seems that this one was particularly large and particularly bright, which is why it’s caught so much attention,” she told the BBC.
“It’s quite likely to be part of the Eta Aquarids, which is the debris left by Halley’s Comet. And twice a year we pass through the debris left behind by the comet and when this happens we see more of these shooting stars, but there must have been a large lump left behind which is what caused such a bright meteor to be seen.”
Dr Aderin-Pocock said last night’s shooting star, though unusually large, was likely to have been no bigger than a closed fist and would have travelled at speeds of around 150,000mph.