Mysterious celestial object spotted over Kyiv night sky (Video)
Sometimes the sky brings gifts from space (illustrative photo: Getty Images)
A bright celestial object was spotted in the night sky over Kyiv. However, not everyone understood what it actually was.
RBC-Ukraine gives details about what people saw in the capital.
What was seen in the sky over Kyiv
Late in the evening on Sunday, April 19, 2026, local social media channels reported that what appeared to be a comet had been spotted over Kyiv.
Videos of the event were also shared with the public.
In footage published by the Kyiv Telegram channel, a bright celestial object can be seen rapidly moving over residential buildings in the capital and even above the railway station.
A visible glow followed it, somewhat resembling a tail.
The Telegram channel Kyiv INFO also reported that a comet was flying over the capital.
On the morning of Monday, April 20, researcher of anomalous phenomena Ihor Mekheda stated that, in fact, a bright meteor was observed over Kyiv during the night.
“Apparently, a large space rock from the Lyrid meteor shower entered the atmosphere and burned up,” he explained in a Facebook post.
Celestial object over Kyiv (photo: facebook.com/igor.mekheda)
The author of the post clarified that many people mistook it for a comet, but this is not the case.
“A comet can be seen in the east, about 50 minutes before sunrise,” Mekheda noted.
He also reminded that two years ago on this same date, a bright meteor was also observed over Kyiv, and its remnants fell near the village of Popilnia.
Mekheda’s post (screenshot: facebook.com/igor.mekheda)
Features of the Lyrid meteor shower
According to information from NASA Science, the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, one of the oldest known meteor showers, usually occurs in late April.
The Lyrids have been observed for about 2,700 years.
“The first recorded sighting of a Lyrid meteor shower goes back to 687 BC by the Chinese.,” NASA reported.
It is noted that the Lyrids are known for their fast and bright meteors, and during the peak of the shower, 10 to 20 Lyrid meteors per hour can be seen.
“Lyrids don’t tend to leave long, glowing dust trains behind them as they streak through the Earth's atmosphere, but they can produce the occasional bright flash called a fireball,” NASA added.
Meteors burning up in Earth’s atmosphere in 2012” (photo: NASA/JSC/D. Pettit)
It is worth noting that, in general, meteors are formed from remnants of cometary particles and fragments of broken asteroids.
“When comets come around the Sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them. Every year, Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky,” experts explained.
It is clarified that the space debris fragments interacting with our atmosphere and creating the Lyrids originate from comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher (discovered by amateur astronomer Albert Thatcher on April 5, 1861).
Sources: Telegram channels “Real Kyiv” and “Kyiv INFO,” Ihor Mekheda’s Facebook post, and the official NASA Science portal.
