A plane passenger departing from Brussels captured a dramatic meteor explosion outside his plane window, describing the moment as both breathtaking and frightening. The incident occurred on March 8 during takeoff, when a bright object suddenly streaked across the sky before bursting into an intense flash of light.
According to the European Space Agency, the meteor was first observed on Sunday evening. (Instagram/@maltyzov_d)
The video was shared on Instagram by Denis Maltyzov, who said he was filming a time-lapse through the window when the rare event unfolded. “I’m still a bit shaken while writing this. During takeoff on flight SN2589 from Brussels, I suddenly noticed a very bright object in the sky not far from our plane,” he wrote.
Maltyzov said that the object flashed and appeared to explode moments later. “At 18:53, it flashed and then seemed to explode in an intense burst of light. I fly quite often, but this is the first time in my life I’ve genuinely felt scared on a plane,” he added. For a few seconds, he said, he thought something had exploded close to the aircraft.
Watch the video below:
Maltyzov said that the captain later mentioned that the bright flash might have been debris burning up in the atmosphere. He also said that witnesses across Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg also reported seeing the spectacle.
“Scientists say it was most likely a small asteroid a few meters wide entering Earth’s atmosphere and breaking up about 50 km above the ground,” he said.
Reflecting on the experience, Maltyzov said the sight left him awestruck. “So what I saw from the airplane window was most likely a meteor entering Earth’s atmosphere. A rock that traveled billions of kilometers through space and burned up right in front of my eyes,” he wrote.
Fireball over Europe
According to the European Space Agency, the meteor was first observed on Sunday evening as it streaked through the sky above the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate before exploding in a bright airburst that lasted several seconds. The agency’s Planetary Defence team estimated the original object may have been a few metres in diameter before disintegrating high in the atmosphere.
According to a report by Live Science, fragments of the meteor struck buildings in the Koblenz area, with one piece reportedly punching a hole through the roof of a house in the town of Koblenz-Guls. No injuries were reported.