Astronomical observatories have received a number of reports of a fireball, described as flashing orange or blue, seen in the skies over the Kanto region around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Reports were received from Gunma, Ibaraki, Chiba and Shizuoka prefectures as well as Tokyo, and indicate that the unidentified object moved across the night sky from the west to the east.

"When dust from the cosmos falls to Earth, it emits a bright light in the air. It's likely that the figure was one such fireball that was especially large and bright," said a spokesman at the Gunma Astronomical Observatory in Takayamamura, Gunma Prefecture.