Doorbell camera captures meteor exploding above sky in Derbyshire

'I was expecting it to be a fox or hedgehog like usual'

A doorbell camera has captured footage of a meteor exploding in the sky above Derbyshire.

Derby resident Gary Rogers received a text alert from his security camera after it detected suspicious movement outside his home on Monday night.

When he checked the footage, Mr Rogers was stunned to see the extraordinary celestial phenomenon lighting up the night sky.

Experts believe the clip, captured at 11.30pm on Monday, shows a bolide (an extremely bright meteor) crashing towards Earth and disintegrating in the atmosphere.

Mr Rogers said: “'I thought it was a firework at first, but I listened to the sound and you couldn’t hear any noise.

“I thought it could have been a plane crashing but the footage clearly shows a large ball of fire. It was amazing to see.

“I’ve seen shooting stars before but never a meteor. I thought it’s definitely not a firework, it was too bright for that. The whole horizon was lit up and there was no sound.

“I saw the trail first then it exploded into the sky. I knew then it was a meteor.

“It was really nice to see. I was expecting it to be a fox or hedgehog like usual.

“My friends have been saying it’s like something out of ‘War of the Worlds’.”

Rob Dawes, chairman of Sherwood Observatory in Derbyshire, said: “Mr Rogers was very lucky to get such a nice bright one.

“But you'd be surprised how many of these do come into the atmosphere at any time of year.“