A mysterious fireball in the skies has scientists puzzled Transcript

Allison: (00:00) A bright and mysterious fireball flying through the sky across Scotland and parts of Ireland and the UK Wednesday night. Victor: (00:07) Hundreds of people saw this thing. It was in the sky, look, there you go, for about 10 to 20 seconds. CNN Space and Defense correspondent Kristin Fisher is with us now. So what was it? Kristin Fisher: (00:19) Well, we don't know yet with 100% certainty, but a group called the UK Meteor Network is convinced that it was a meteor, which is a small piece of an asteroid which was breaking up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. The other possible theory that's been floating around is that it was a piece of space junk, like an old satellite or a spent rocket body, burning up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. But most experts seemed to be coming into agreement that this was a meteor. Kristin Fisher: (00:47) But whatever it was, Victor and Allison, it was a spectacle across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Northern England. And more than 800 people reported it to the UK Meteor Network. And it was captured, as you can see here, in tons of cell phone videos. Ring doorbell cameras caught it. And the reason we have such incredible footage of it is because most fireballs, they only last in the sky for a few seconds. This one could be seen for a full 20 seconds, which is very rare. And it was also pretty slow moving, and a lot of people also reported that it was actually changing colors. So there were some really unusual characteristics about this thing, but as all the data comes in, it's looking more and more like it was a meteor. But space junk not officially ruled out yet, Victor and Allison. Allison: (01:38) Okay. I'm no rocket scientist, but that looks like a meteor. Victor: (01:41) It's exciting the first day. I imagine in the moment, it's a little scary. Allison: (01:44) Yeah. Oh, yes. Victor: (01:45) It's a little scary in the moment. Allison: (01:47) "What is that?" Victor: (01:47) Yeah.