Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, southwest China - June 1, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of bright meteorite falling, buildings along river
2. Photo showing meteorite in night sky

A blazing meteorite illuminated the night sky Friday evening in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The spectacular moment happened around 21:41 local time. According to residents out in the streets of the province's Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, they were awed by a dazzling light, which quickly took the form of a "flaming ball," accompanied by a thunder-like noise.

The fireball was in fact a bolide, that is, an extremely bright meteor, according to the Yunnan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The observatory's specialist in astronomy Zhang Xingxiang explained that the blaze was created by the intense friction the meteorite experienced when it entered the earth's atmosphere.