VIDEO: Meteoroid fireball turns night to day in Romania

An extremely bright fireball turned night into day in Bucharest, Romania, when it flew overhead and burned up in the atmosphere.

Romania's Space Agency (RoSA) confirmed that a "bright light followed by a loud noise" was recorded overnight on 7 January and was observed over several cities, including the capital of Bucharest.

The event was recorded on several surveillance cameras and showed the streets lighting up as the meteoroid blazed across the sky.

Marius-Ioan Piso, President of the RoSA, said: "We do not have very accurate data up so far, but a report will be made in the next days. Based on the information we do have until now, we can estimate that the phenomenon occurred at an altitude of 50-70 km, from east to west, over the area between Bucharest and Vrancea.

"This phenomenon is common, only last night about 30 meteors like this one were monitored in the United States of America, the only country that has an operating monitoring system for such objects."

While the fireball did not cause any damage and likely burned up in the atmosphere, experts said events like these show the need for improved monitoring systems for space objects.

Piso said the RoSA is involved in a ESA project that aims to protect the planet from "solar flares, space debris and NEO (Near-Earth objects)".