EAGLE-eyed Bolton residents spotted a strange fireball object hurtling across the night sky.

One householder thought it was a rocket crash-landing to earth, while another believed it was a burning plane about to plummet to the ground.

Police and weather experts have now revealed it was a meteor, after dealing with dozens of reports from callers across the country on Saturday from 9.40pm onwards.

Riz Umar, aged 25, of Deane, said: “I was at home and as I walked past the window I noticed the curtains weren’t drawn. At that moment, I noticed this strange object in the sky.

“It was like nothing I had ever seen before — a burning fireball travelling really fast. It looked like a plane that was on fire and about to crash-land. In a few seconds it disappeared.

It was just so strange.”

Heather Taylor, aged 54, was driving along Crompton Way, to the north of Bolton town centre, when she spotted the meteor.

“My daughter, Paige, was with me and it really upset her as she thought it was a plane crash-landing,” said Mrs Taylor. “It looked like a rocket that was on fire. It was there for about four minutes and was as big as a smoking chimney. I couldn’t believe it.”

The Met Office tweeted: “Hi all, for anyone seeing something in the night sky, we believe it was a meteorite.”

Meteors are particles from space that burn up in a streak of light as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, whereas meteorites are larger objects that reach the surface of the Earth.