BANDAR SRI BEGAWAN: A rare celestial phenomenon lit up the skies over Brunei on Sunday evening (June 14), as a bright green meteor streaked across the horizon at around 8.30pm, leaving a luminous trail in its wake and creating a spectacular sight for those fortunate enough to witness it.
According to the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam (PABD), the association received a surge of reports, along with dashboard camera footage and incidental videos capturing the event, helping to confirm the meteor’s trajectory and striking colouration.
Based on the initial reports submitted to PABD, the meteor appeared unusually large – consistent with a fireball – travelling at high velocity and illuminating the sky for approximately two to three seconds before fading.
None of the witnesses reported any signs of fragmentation as it passed through the atmosphere. Instead, they described a sudden, vivid emerald flash that briefly lit up the night sky.
Among the locals who captured the moment was Umair Akmal, who recorded the event at 8.33pm on his dashcam while driving through Lambak. He described the meteor as a solid green streak with a distinct trail lasting about two seconds.
Struck by the rarity of the sight, Umair noted that the bright green hue made it one of the most unusual celestial events he had ever personally witnessed. Around the same time, 27-year-old Khadijah Azami also recorded the fireball on her car camcorder while driving through Sungai Akar, heading towards the ISB-One City traffic light.
She observed the meteor travelling in a south-west direction, describing the object as large, fast, and vividly green.
Khadijah added that the vibrant colour was accompanied by a distinct bright white flash as it flared up over a span of about three seconds.
In astronomical terms, not every “shooting star” qualifies as a fireball. According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a fireball is defined as a meteor that reaches an apparent magnitude of -4 or brighter, exceeding the brightness of Venus. All eyewitness footage captured clearly demonstrates why Sunday’s event meets this criterion.
Meanwhile, Shahrazen Said shared a video captured by one of his team members, who recorded the fireball entirely by chance. In his Instagram Story caption, he explained that while filming footage for the football event ‘Project WASP: The Next Level Training’, the bright green object appeared above the treeline and passed through the background of the shot.
He later submitted the footage to PABD’s Instagram page, noting his surprise at having unintentionally recorded what he initially thought might have been a comet falling from the sky.
While sightings of ordinary “shooting stars” are relatively common, the appearance of a bright green fireball is far more exceptional. Its distinctive colour is closely linked to the meteoroid’s chemical composition.
As the object enters Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high velocity, friction generates intense heat, causing it to vaporise. The vivid green emission is typically associated with the presence of magnesium or nickel within the material, which, when vaporised under extreme temperatures, emits light in the green portion of the spectrum. This process produces the striking emerald trail reported across Brunei on Sunday night.
PABD is still actively collecting data to triangulate the exact size and trajectory of the fireball. Anyone who witnessed the green meteor or has dashcam or CCTV footage from around 8.30pm is strongly encouraged to submit an official fireball report to the International Meteor Organszation (IMO).
The event is officially catalogued and numbered 4347-2026. By contributing to the IMO’s global citizen-science database, local observers can help astronomers worldwide track and analyse such celestial events. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
