A large meteorite measuring between one and several meters in diameter broke up and fell over Europe
There are numerous reports of a large fireball flying over Western Europe yesterday, March 8, at around 9 p.m. Moscow time. The flight
was accompanied by flashes and sound effects and was captured by numerous stationary cameras and eyewitnesses' mobile phones.
A large 5-minute compilation of observations is available via a direct link (50 MB) on our website. The video attached to the message shows a panoramic view from Rotterdam (Netherlands) against the backdrop of the cityscape and Erasmus Bridge.
The object moved
from southwest to northeast and was visible in the sky over
Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Based on the photos received,
the brightness of the fireball near the epicenter can be estimated at a magnitude of minus 15 to minus 20, which is hundreds of times brighter than the full moon. Based on the video, the size of the meteorite ranges from one to several (2-3) meters. The rock initially
entered the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of about 80 kilometers and was observed for approximately 10 seconds.
At an altitude of 40 to 20 km, the body actively broke up into fragments in the area of the cities of Koblenz and Frankfurt am Main (Germany), accompanied by bright flashes. In Koblenz, one of the fragments, several centimeters in size, pierced the roof of a residential building. Reports of falling fragments also came from other regions of Germany, confirming that the object broke into many small pieces and that some of the debris continued to move after the breakup.
The event evokes many associations with the observation of a similar fireball on October 27, 2025,
which flew north of Moscow over the territory of the Vologda, Yaroslavl, Tver, and Novgorod regions, and was also captured on numerous stationary cameras and video recorders, which ultimately made it possible to determine its trajectory and the center of the debris scatter with good accuracy.
One of the fragments, which also pierced the roof of a house at that time, was subsequently found 50 km from this center in the vicinity of the village of Okulovka.