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This is the moment a mysterious flash of light turned night into day in northern Brazil.

Captured on camera at around 10.20pm last night, an unidentified object can be seen throwing out bursts of intense blue, pink, purple and red light.

The phenomenon, in Brazil's Recife region, saw the night's sky illuminated brightly for a number of seconds, before residents were plunged into darkness once again.

Those woken by the blast of light quickly took to social media to discuss what they had seen, with #Meteoro and #Recife trending.

Brazilian media said some had compared the sight to the sun rising, while others believed it had been a flash of lightning.

But experts believe the spectacular show was more likely to have been caused by a meteor falling from a meteor shower.

Towards the end of this month, a trail of the cosmic dust left in the wake of Halley's Comet could be visible to the naked eye.

Although the comet itself won't be visible again until 2061, the debris is small enough to burn up in our atmosphere in a mini meteor shower.