The brilliance of the meteor was mirrored on the calm surface of the Mediterranean
In the early hours of Thursday, January 15, 2026, residents along the southern coast of Alicante witnessed a breathtaking celestial display. At exactly 6:47 a.m., a spectacular bolide—an exceptionally bright meteor—streaked across the pre-dawn sky over La Mata. The event was vividly captured by a webcam operated by the Proyecto Mastral observatory, providing a rare and detailed record of the phenomenon.
The footage shows an intense flash of light cutting through the darkness, so powerful that it briefly illuminated the coastline as if it were daylight. The brilliance of the meteor was mirrored on the calm surface of the Mediterranean, creating a surreal and unforgettable scene for early risers and social media users who quickly shared the recording.
We received 51 reports about a fireball seen over Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Noord-Holland, North Holland, Overijssel, South Holland, Utrecht and Zuid-Holland on Wednesday, January 14th 2026 around 17:59 UT.
For this event, we received 2 videos and one photo.
A fireball was seen streaking across the sky in Southern California on Saturday night!
ABC7 director Mike Gilbert captured video of the fireball from our studios in Glendale.
The American Meteor Society confirmed the sighting was definitely a fireball, and not a rocket launch or satellite entry.
A fireball is a meteor brighter than any star or planet in the sky. While normal meteors or "shooting stars" totally disintegrate while still high in the atmosphere, fireballs can produce fragments on the ground called meteorites, though it is extremely rare.
The American Meteor Society said it received over 30 reports after the sighting, but noted it actually receives about 100 reports of fireballs each day from all over the world.
As common as they are, experts say most people only see a few of them in their lifetime.
We received 7 reports about a fireball seen over Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie, Piemonte and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur on Wednesday, January 7th 2026 around 02:12 UT.
A rare fireball meteor lit up the night sky early Monday morning, thrilling astronomy enthusiasts. The shooting star was caught on camera in Pingtung, Kaohsiung and Changhua. Experts say the fireball was part of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. The meteor itself was very bright, and its smoke trail lingered in the sky for more than 3 minutes. Let's hear more.
Shih Shih-chih
Pingtung Stargazing Ambassador
The Quadrantids peak from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12 this year, and especially in the early morning of Jan. 4. But even a day later on Jan. 5, we were able to spot a fireball meteor overhead going south at 5:21 in the morning.