WATCH: Giant meteor turns dark night sky over Portugal and Spain into breathtaking blue

Saturday turned out to be a stunning day for stargazers in Spain and Portugal as they got a chance to witness a giant meteorite shooting across the skies.

On social media, people shared videos and images of the moment when a bright light crossed the sky and lit up the vicinity.

Social media claimed that the blue flash could be seen darting through the night sky for hundreds of kilometres.

So far, it's not been established whether it hit the Earth's surface. However, some on social media forums claimed that it fell near the town of Castro Daire.

A social media user wrote on X, "A fireball crossed the sky of Portugal, causing a flash and surprising residents on Saturday night (18th). Residents report hearing the sound of an explosion."

Another user wrote, "Not the rarest thing, but tonight for a few moments a meteor lit up the sky in Portugal and turned night into day for a second or two! I'll attach all the videos I can find to this thread. I know this has happened before, but I still find it fascinating, like a reverse eclipse!"

Watch the videos here:

Incredible footage of Meteor seen in Portugal last night pic.twitter.com/vJ6Slii7Go — Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) May 19, 2024

🇵🇹 One of the cleanest recording of a Meteor ever filmed.

Captured over Portugal. pic.twitter.com/HZwQQmZKzT — Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) May 19, 2024

BREAKING 🚨: Another view of the Meteor seen over Spain and Portugal

Reports say it may have fallen near the town of Pinheiro pic.twitter.com/isV6XYCbMX — Latest in space (@latestinspace) May 19, 2024

Videos and images of meteorites on social media were filled with commentslike "absolutely breathtaking", "mesmerising" and "mind-blowing".

A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon.

When the object enters the atmosphere, friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the gases cause it to heat up and emit energy.

A report by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mentioned, "When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or 'shooting stars' are called meteors."

"Meteoroids, rocks in space, range in size from dust grains to small asteroids," it added.

(With inputs from agencies)