Videos recorded by witnesses show a bright white to bluish-green object with a compact head and a narrow glowing tail moving across the sky at a shallow angle before fading from view. The long visible duration and smooth motion distinguish the event from typical meteors, which usually last only a few seconds.
Preliminary analysis suggests the object may have been an Earth-grazing meteor, a rare type of fireball that skims the upper atmosphere at very shallow angles.
Earth-grazing meteors enter the atmosphere at a shallow trajectory and travel hundreds of kilometers through the upper atmosphere before exiting again into space or continuing along a long atmospheric path. Because they remain at high altitude, they can remain visible for 10 to 40 seconds, significantly longer than most meteors.
Comment: Meteorite fragments have been found in Germany: