By HISATOSHI TANAKA/ Staff Writer
August 20, 2025 at 18:48 JST
An intense flash of light that briefly turned night into day over Mount Sakurajima in Kagoshima on Aug. 19 may have been caused by a bright meteor fireball, local weather officials say.
At 11:08 p.m., footage from seven fixed-point observation cameras monitoring the volcano turned completely white for a second due to overexposure from an intense light, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Eight minutes later, a notable atmospheric pressure wave measuring 12.5 pascals was recorded southeast of Sakurajima. Seismic instruments also detected ground vibrations.
Staff at the local weather office on the opposite side of Kagoshima Bay reported hearing a loud “boom” after opening a window.
Initially, the JMA suspected a possible powerful volcanic eruption. However, no volcanic plume was observed, and the seismic patterns did not match those typically associated with explosive activity.
The event triggered a flurry of phone calls from concerned residents, many asking whether the blast was connected to Sakurajima, one of the most active volcanoes in the country.
Social media users quickly speculated it was a meteor, a theory JMA now says is plausible.
While the agency stopped short of making a definitive conclusion, it said a fireball may have caused the phenomenon, given the timing of the light and the subsequent shock wave.
Further supporting the fireball theory, a bright streak of light descending from the sky was recorded at the same time by a camera at Fukuoka Airport, more than 200 kilometers to the north.
The footage, broadcast by Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co., shows a glowing object falling toward the horizon and vanishing.
Toshihisa Maeda, director of the Sendai Space Museum in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, said the characteristics of the event point to a fireball.
“Fireballs are observed dozens of times each year across Japan,” he said. “But ones bright enough to light up the night sky like daytime are rare.”
Maeda estimates the object was at least several centimeters in size, based on the shock wave and sound.
He said it’s also possible that fragments of the object reached the ground or sea, prompting researchers to begin analyzing footage from multiple sources.
According to Daichi Fujii, a curator at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa Prefecture who specializes in meteors, the fireball likely entered the atmosphere at a speed of 75,600 kph and may have fallen into the sea south of Kagoshima.
"Fireballs are observed every few days, but this one briefly made the sky as bright as daytime. It was a great fireball, the kind seen only once every few years," he noted.
Based on its brightness, he estimated the size of the meteor to be "anywhere from several tens of centimeters to a few meters."
(Kiriko Nemoto also contributed to this article.)
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A likely meteor, left, is captured on Aug. 19 by a fixed camera at Fukuoka Airport. (Provided by Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co.)
