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In what Wales Online calls a “historic first” a newly discovered asteroid exploded over the English Channel. On Monday a small asteroid designated Sar2667 turned into a vast fireball 'airburst' at around 3 am local time.

According to international media reports, multiple videos captured Sar2667 exploding over the English Channel as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), this was only the seventh time in history that an asteroid impact was so accurately predicted in advance.

The sky event is known as an “airburst.” 

The ESA had forecast that the asteroid was going to “safely strike” the Earth’s atmosphere near Rouen, France.

Scientists named the asteroid when they spotted it approaching Earth. Within hours they were able to predict when and where the airburst would occur.

The prediction that Sar2667 would safely impact the French-English Channel at 03:00:03 UT was accurate. The size was calculated to be around 1 meter (3.2 feet) and the airburst would appear as bright as the Moon momentarily on entry to the Earth’s atmosphere was also spot on.

The small asteroid named Sar2667 was only about 3 feet in diameter. But the airburst of light was hundreds of feet wide. And was shared across social media worldwide.

The massive burst of light in the sky was visible across most of southern England and Wales. It was also seen as far South as Paris, France.

American Physicist Mark Boslough is a world-renowned expert in the airburst phenomenon.

 Boslough reported from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S. that "airbursts of this size happen somewhere several times per year" but that they are "rarely discovered in advance." And he also said this is believed to be the first time in history the phenomenon occurred "over a populated area with enough warning to get data".