Fireball lights up Toronto night sky, meteor becomes 6th to be detected pre-impact

Residents in Toronto and surrounding regions were treated to the sight of a large fireball streaking across the night sky early Saturday as a meteor burned up in the atmosphere.

Footage sent to CityNews by viewers showed the approximately one-metre meteor streaking across the sky for several seconds just before 3:30 a.m.

According to posts on the European Space Agency mission operations Twitter account, the object temporarily designated as C8FF042 struck the earth over Niagara Falls and it became a “safe fireball.”

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The agency said it was just the sixth time in history that asteroid warning systems across the globe detected it pre-impact, and triggering alerts to planetary defence specialists.

Staff at the European Space Agency said while it’s only the sixth time, “this capability is rapidly improving.”

As of Saturday evening, the Canadian Space Agency didn’t release information on its social media accounts.

Meanwhile, residents in the Greater Toronto Area reported seeing another meteor heading east across the sky after 10 p.m. on Saturday.