Dozens of people reported a plane crashing – which turned out to be a meteor breaking up in the sky, expert say.
Police launched an aerial and ground search for a crashed plane after 999 calls about a possible light aircraft crash over Devon.
The flying object was seen by many people in the early hours of Sunday morning and experts say it was an asteroid breaking up after penetrating the earth’s atmosphere.
Devon and Cornwall Police said it began receiving calls from worried residents in Yelverton, Princetown and Clearbrook from around 6.25am and later received reports from people seeing the meteor from as far away as Dorset and Cardiff.
UK Meteor Network, an association of astronomers with meteor detection cameras, confirmed it had received dozens of reports of a fireball meteor which is believed to have travelled in a southwesterly direction over the English Channel.
The flying object was seen breaking apart and falling to the ground and two police helicopters and a coastguard helicopter from Newquay were scrambled amid fears a plane could be in trouble.
