Did a space rock land in a village field near Boston?

Hundreds of residents and motorists across Lincolnshire reported seeing a ‘fireball’ on Monday, February 19.

Many took to social media to share their sightings or dashcam footage of the astronomical event, describing it as a ‘burning fireball’ or ‘orange light’ falling from the sky. Others said it appeared more green in colour, while some even speculated it might have been a UFO.

One said they watched it fall from the sky like a ‘firework’ before hearing a ‘thud’ as it hit the ground. Many on social media claimed the object made landfall in Stickney, near Boston.

One teenager in Stickney, who watched the fireball from his home, believes he has found its meteorite in a nearby grass field.

Christopher Patching says he may have located the space rock after seeing it fall from the sky.

The Spilsby King Edward VI pupil told us: “I was sitting in my room and my cat came up to my window, meowing as if it wanted to go outside. I let it out and as I was doing so I saw the meteor blaze over a field ahead of me. Its last moments were blocked by a tree for me. I was confused about what I had seen, and took to the Stickney Facebook group and asked if anyone else had witnessed it. After getting confirmation, I went out to search. From my perspective it looked like it most likely would have landed in the fields behind the school. After a solid ten minutes of torch-lit searching, I saw what appeared to me to look like the meteorite. It was wet due to the flooding in the field, but still had a gentle warmth.”

Christopher’s mum Zoe told us: “I was out at the time, but when I came home and he told me what he had seen and that he’d found it, I did laugh at first. But he has since taken it in to show his teacher at school, who told him it does look quite unusual.”

Christopher added: “It feels rough and heavy. It looks as if there is copper in it, based on the orange and blue streaks. My teacher also thinks it may have an iron composition. I won't say 100% that it is the meteorite but I'm suspicious that it very well is.”

The family say the rock was found in a large field they rent close to their home in Stickney and they are now hoping to get it officially tested.

Whether the meteorite has been found or not – the celestial event certainly gave people around the county plenty to talk about.

Commenting via Facebook, one reader, Jase Young, wrote: “We saw this in Market Rasen last night but it looked like it burnt out in the sky”. Tank English added: “Men in black are on the way! There are some strange things going on in Stickney.”

Sightings of the object came from further afield too – with locals in Nottingham, Leicestershire, parts of Yorkshire and Sunderland and even as far away as the Netherlands and northern France claiming to have spotted it at the same time.

The website www.fireball.amsmeteors.org says it received 119 official reports of the object at around 5.46pm.

In astronomy, a ‘fireball’ is generally brighter than a ‘meteor’ – the latter of which is commonly known as a ‘shooting star’ – which doesn’t last as long.