A massive discussion was sparked in Japan and beyond after a fiery sphere streaked across the sky in the western part of the country. Local residents and amateur astronomers expressed their amazement at the phenomenon, while social media wasn’t short of theories about an alien invasion.
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However, experts explained that it was a natural phenomenon. Photos released show that on Tuesday (August 19), shortly after 11:00 PM (local time, 5:00 PM Greece time), the light sphere, which was visible for hundreds of kilometers, streaked across the sky.
An eyewitness told NHK television: “A white light, unlike anything I had ever seen before, came down from the sky and became so bright that I could clearly see the outlines of houses around us.” “It was like daylight. For a moment I couldn’t understand what was happening and I was stunned,” he added.
“It was an extremely bright meteor”
Toshihisa Maeda, director of the space museum in Sendai in Kagoshima prefecture, stated that it was an extremely bright meteor that fell into the Pacific. In astronomy, a meteor is any bright phenomenon that appears within Earth’s atmosphere as a result of a meteoroid – a rocky body – entering it.
“People reported feeling the air vibrating. This flying object was as bright as the moon,” eyewitnesses also told Agence France-Presse. It should be noted that according to NASA, objects that create fireballs can exceed one meter in size.
A ball of light suddenly lit up the night sky in Kagoshima, Japan on Tuesday (August 19), stunning residents and sparking curiosity. The rare sight was caught on a live camera recording, showing the “fireball” flash briefly before fading.
Local media NHK reported that the… pic.twitter.com/S2FpFoK9fZ
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) August 20, 2025
