Mystery meteor explodes in atmosphere as it speeds out of Milky Way towards Earth

EXTRAORDINARY footage of a burning asteroid exploding as it speeds out of the Milky Way has been posted online.

EXTRAORDINARY footage of a mysterious object exploding through the Earth’s atmosphere has been posted online.

The burning meteor sped into view beneath the Milky Way before bursting into a spiral of flames.

The incredible moment was captured on video by Wes Eisenhauer, who was filming the night sky from Custer, South Dakota.

He shared his breathtaking footage on Reddit, asking if anyone could help identify the meteor.

The rare sight gained thousands of comments, with many speculating that the object could be a “bolide” or fireball — an asteroid that “pops” when it enter the heat of the atmosphere.

Others suggested it could be a large piece of space junk left behind by a rocket or similar spacecraft.

The American Meteor Society says that several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth’s atmosphere each day, but the vast majority occur over oceans and uninhabited regions, and many are masked by daylight.

Remarkably, a similar piece of footage emerged just last month, prompting many to wonder whether it was the same one.

That video was shot at Ashton-Wildwood County Park in Iowa on October 16 — the same date as the new footage was obtained.

These phenomenal recordings come as our powers of night observation expand along with improved technology for capturing and sharing special moments.

Around 10 to 50 meteorites actually hit the earth each day, with two-thirds of those landing in the sea and another quarter in very uninhabited areas.