Hamburg - A mysterious ball of light in the night sky which alarmed people across northern Germany was most likely caused by a falling meteorite, astronomer Thomas Grau said on Wednesday.

Witnesses spoke of a "burning ball," and a "glowing object in the sky" which "crumbled and fell to the ground," in phone calls to police and fire stations in Bremen, Hamburg and across Lower Saxony.

Across the border in the Netherlands, sounds were reported which typically accompany large meteorites falling to earth, such as rumbling thunder and a sonic boom.

"We have pictures of the fireball and the meteor cloud," said Grau, the founder of the European Research Centre for Fireballs and Meteorites.

The meteor may have fallen into the North Sea off the coast of Germany and the Netherlands, Grau said. - Sapa-dpa

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