What was the fireball that crossed the skies of Finland and Sweden?

A dazzling meteor lights up the skies of Sweden and Finland: authorities confirm it was a meteorite disintegrating in the atmosphere . On Tuesday, July 1, a stunning "fireball" was observed in the night sky over Stockholm and the Åland Islands, according to experts from Uppsala University, who ruled out any risk.

According to witnesses, the phenomenon was seen as a luminous sphere that lasted for three seconds , followed by a thunderous sound, typical of a bolide , a bright meteor that explodes in the atmosphere when heated by friction.

According to Eric Stempels, a fireball phenomenon of such magnitude occurs only once every five years in the area.

The sighting of the phenomenon is consistent with observations made by European meteor monitoring networks; the meteor entered the atmosphere, becoming visible at altitudes between 76 and 120 km above sea level , and curiously, it disintegrated, eliminating any risk to humans.

Earth is constantly bombarded by cosmic debris. According to NASA, an estimated 17,000 meteorites strike our planet annually, equivalent to about 46 meteorites per day.

Of these, thousands become “fireballs,” but most occur over unpopulated areas or during the day, and only about 2–12 are visible daily.

Most are small particles called "meteoroids," but occasionally larger objects like this fireball become visible in the European sky, reminding us that Earth is still showered with fragments from space every day.