The flash occurred just after 9pm, and the reports registered with the Ursa Astronomical Association came from locations including Vaasa, Seinäjoki, Lapua, and Kokkola.
Vaasa resident Timo Alanko, a member of the region's astronomical society, captured footage of the meteor as he has special-purpose surveillance cameras pointed at the sky from the roof of his home — which record day and night.
He checked the cameras after a neighbour tipped him off about a flash in the sky, and he was stunned by what he found.
"This is the big one we've been waiting for," Alanko told Yle. "I've managed to capture a few, the most recent one was probably last year further south, but I haven't yet recorded a fireball this bright. This is the most spectacular one so far."
The exact landing site of the meteor is not known as of Monday morning, but preliminary estimates suggest it may have fallen somewhere in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia.
"Sometimes a fireball can be seen from hundreds of kilometers away. People often think that it fell behind the forest in the neighbouring village. But it could actually be 700 kilometers away," Alanko explained.
Fireballs are a regular sight in the skies over Finland, especially during this time of year when the nights are darker for longer, but bright ones are quite rare.
"Almost every night there's some kind of small streak somewhere, but these incredibly bright ones are seen maybe once a year," Alanko noted, adding that Sunday's fireball was about the size of a tennis ball or a soccer ball.
"Quite often they contain iron. What people might call a shooting star can be the size of a sugar cube, or even smaller," he said.
A fireball's bright light and colours are created when the object collides with the atmosphere at high speed.
Several people also reported hearing a loud rumbling noise shortly after the fireball was visible on Sunday evening.
(See video here)
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