© Alison HepburnAlison Hepburn sent us this picture of an object hurtling through the sky above Dundee.
An extra-terrestrial flash of light was snapped shooting across the Dundee sky.
The image, taken by city woman Alison Hepburn, shows an object burning through the skies over Glenconnor Drive. The 26-year-old science student said she did a double-take when she noticed an exceptionally bright light overhead.
She said: "It was just after 9am. It was the light I noticed - it was really, really bright. You know when you glance at something and then you glance back again? At first I thought it was an aeroplane, but I realised it couldn't have been. I took pictures and in the space of two minutes it was gone."
The Alloway Terrace resident added: "I wondered if it might be what's left of the comet that broke up recently."
But Dundee Astronomical Society secretary David Paterson said it was more likely to be a meteor - fire-hot dust and rocks tearing through space.
Comment: See also: Meteor explodes over Greece, panicked locals report fragments falling into sea
It's unlikely that anything actually 'fell into the sea'. If something had done so, everyone around the Med would be left in no doubt! (ie, a devastating tsunami would likely have resulted).
However, exploding and fragmenting fireballs can seem quite close to the ground, even as they're high up in the atmosphere.
Which isn't to say that they can't reach low enough to cause serious damage on the ground. Just look at Chelyabinsk, where 3,000 people were injured and most windows in the city were blown in.
Note also that this is the third or fourth report we've seen in the past fortnight of people noticing that
a.) this is a global phenomenon;
b.) the numbers of fireballs are increasing.
It may not be long before people become aware en masse and public perception shifts...