A Green Fireball Explodes Over the Erupting Mayon Volcano

What happened

Mayon, Albay’s 2,463-metre (8,081-foot) volcano, had been erupting since early January 2026, according to the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program, as cited by LiveScience. At 10:33 pm local time on Sunday 25 May, two livestreams pointed at the glowing summit caught a bright flash. It was a meteor flaring green for “just over a second,” as LiveScience’s Harry Baker described it.

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) confirmed that the streak “captured over Mayon Volcano by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) Ligñon Hill camera at 10:33 PM on 25 May 2026 was caused by a meteor entering the atmosphere.”

The footage

There are two clips.

1. PHIVOLCS Ligñon Hill monitoring camera. This is a black-and-white clip posted by PHIVOLCS on 25 May. It shows the flash near the lava-lit summit.

2. afarTV colour livestream. This one is on YouTube, titled “Meteor Fireball Plunges Behind Mayon Volcano During Eruption (May 25, 2026).”

• Uploader: afarTV.
• Published: 25 May 2026, 12:00 pm PDT (3:00 pm EDT).
• Length: 0:47.
• What it shows: The red glow of the lava and the emerald streak. Near the end, LiveScience notes, “a small light rising from near the meteor’s trail” appears. afarTV says this is a satellite.

Timeline

• 1 February 1814: Mayon’s deadliest eruption buries Cagsawa and kills more than 1,200 people.
• 13 January 2018: An eruption begins and lasts into 2019.
• Late April 2023: Another eruption brings lava and pyroclastic flows.
• Early January 2026: The current eruption begins (GVP, per LiveScience).
• 25 May 2026, 10:33 pm PHT: The fireball appears. PHIVOLCS posts that it struck the northern slopes.
• 25 May 2026, later: afarTV uploads its colour clip.
• 26 May 2026: PHIVOLCS corrects its post: the meteor broke up in the air. PhilSA issues an advisory, and LiveScience reports.
• Late May to 1 June 2026: A “rising light” clip goes viral. NewsNation and the NY Post report Avi Loeb’s satellite explanation.

What witnesses reported

The witnesses are cameras. PHIVOLCS’s first social-media post said its footage showed “a meteor striking the [volcano’s] northern slopes,” which spread widely. Some viral reposts then focused on the faint “rising light” in the afarTV clip and suggested it was a UAP.

What the research found

PHIVOLCS’s correction is the decisive document. It reads: “our review of seismic, infrasound and additional camera footage around the volcano indicate that the meteor disintegrated while in the atmosphere and did not strike the slopes of Mayon” (quoted by LiveScience). Three independent instruments agree.