INCREDIBLE footage captured the moment a green meteor lights up the night sky as it travels in a rare spectacle.
Onlookers were left stunned as the unearthly entity turned the pitch-black sky to a luminous green, visible across many cities in Turkey.
Amazing footage captured in Istanbul shows the mysterious meteor with a long tail hurling through the night sky.
Onlookers couldn’t tear their eyes away as they watch the once-in-a-lifetime display in astonishment.
As the meteor travels to the other side of the sky, its tail begins to spark out before eventually no longer being visible.
The sky returns to being pitch black as viewers look around at each other in disbelief.
Despite the footage being taken in Istanbul, the beautiful spectacle was visible in other Turkish cities like Bursa, Sakarya, Kocaeli and Çorum.
There was initially some speculation from viewers on what it actually was.
Some viewers believed they saw a rocket and others thought it was a satellite hurling to Earth.
The Turkish Space Agency (TUA) took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to settle the debate and confirm the meteor spotting.
They also explained why it had such a vibrant colour.
TUA said: “Colors formed when meteors enter the atmosphere; It varies depending on several factors, such as the chemical composition of the meteor, its speed, and the gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Different elements found in the meteor can create different colors when burning in the Earth’s atmosphere.
“For example, sodium can create a bright orange-yellow color, magnesium can create green or blue tones, and ionized calcium (Ca+) can create a purple color.
“Larger meteorids can release more energy at their entrance, creating more intense colors.
“Overall, these factors cause the appearance of a variety of colors, making each meteoric event a unique and visually impressive natural phenomenon.”
It comes after last month’s brief scare as two Asteroids zipped past – with one of them being bigger than 99% of asteroids near Earth.
The bigger of the two measured about 1.3 miles long and was reported to come closest to Earth at 21:14 BST / 16:14 ET on June 27.
“This asteroid’s orbit around the Sun is steeply inclined, which is unusual for such a large object,” the European Space Agency (ESA) explained.
