David Butland with some of the meteorites he has collected previously
© John AllenDavid Butland with some of the meteorites he has collected previously
A supermarket worker claims he saw a meteorite enter the earth's atmosphere and break up over Plymouth.

Amateur space watcher David Butland, aged 42, says he was standing outside his parents' house in Beacon Park at about 7pm on New Year's Eve when he noticed a "yellowish light" in the sky, passing from south to north.

"I kept watching it and it started growing and changing colour," David said.

"About 10 seconds before it disappeared it started burning up, then four or five fragments broke off it.

"Originally the colour was mainly white, but as it started to break up it turned into a tint of yellow then deep yellow as more pieces broke off.

"It came from the south, flew over and to the side of the house and broke up low and in a northerly direction."

David, who describes himself as a keen meteorite collector and enthusiast, believes the object may have landed somewhere around Woolwell or Yelverton and is on the lookout for other witnesses.

"Since I was a child I've always been interested in space, I have been collecting meteorites for 20 years," David said.

"Events like this are very rare for the UK, so I was quite excited when I saw it.

"The last one that came through the atmosphere over Plymouth was in 1623 in Ivybridge.

"There's an old folk tale that people were picking apples from an orchard when they claim they saw it, but there was no proof, nothing was ever found."

David says he is "pretty sure" what he witnessed was a stone meteorite - a solid piece of debris from an asteroid or comet which originates in outer space and survives its impact with the earth's surface.

"Most people think 'Oh it was New Year's Eve, it was probably fireworks,' but I'm pretty sure it was a meteorite because of the angle it came in at and its speed," David said. "It's quite difficult to explain."

David, who runs a website for meteorite dealers and auctioneers at howardites.com, says the object did not make a noise and may have landed on the moors with nobody around.

"I am interested to find out whether there were any other witnesses to this amazing event, purely for the scientific value," David says.