A Harvard expert has offered his verdict on the moment a mysterious glowing orb seemed to shoot out of an erupting volcano immediately following a meteor strike. Extraordinary footage showed a green fireball streaking across the night sky behind Mount Mayon – one of the world’s most active volcanoes situated in the Philippines.
The remarkable cosmic spectacle unfolded at approximately 10.30pm on May 25 and was recorded from several vantage points by cameras monitoring the peak.
However, the true enigma emerged moments after the space rock blazed past. As glowing orange lava cascaded down the mountainside, a small, bright white speck was observed ascending into the sky in footage shared by afarTV.
The eerie clip sent online investigators into a frenzy, with many convinced they had just witnessed a genuine UFO departure. Yet top theoretical physicist Avi Loeb has dismissed the extraterrestrial theories.
Speaking to NewsNation Prime, the Ivy League professor said: “The light coming up is most likely the glint from a satellite reflecting sunlight. There are more than 10,000 communications satellites moving around the Earth, so it’s not very unlikely to see such a thing.”
According to the space expert, observers simply witnessed a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime coincidental optical phenomenon.
The celestial spectacle left nearby residents utterly terrified. One alarmed local from the town of Los Baños confessed they “thought it was a missile because of how bright it was.” They added: “It burned bright green and white for less than a second before it disappeared into the clouds.” Initially, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) raised concerns by suggesting their equipment had detected the meteor “striking the northern slopes of Mayon Volcano”.
However, following a more thorough examination of the data, the agency reversed its position, confirming the space rock had in fact disintegrated harmlessly while airborne.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), PHIVOLCS posted: “Our review of seismic, infrasound and additional camera footages around the volcano indicate that the meteor disintegrated while in the atmosphere and did not strike the slopes of Mayon, contrary to our initial post.” Had the blazing rock genuinely collided with the volcano, it would have left a massive, unmistakable scar.
While the timing appears miraculous, the likelihood of a meteor intersecting with Mount Mayon is considerably higher than one might expect. The infamous Luzon-based summit is the most active volcano in the Philippines and amongst the most hazardous on the planet.
When the green fireball materialised, the volcano had been steadily expelling lava for 140 consecutive days, which meant numerous cameras had been operating continuously for months.