Mysterious flashes of light crashed on the moon — here’s what they were

Bursts of light captured crashing into the moon last week were caused by dual asteroid strikes against the lunar surface that were likely strong enough to form hulking craters, according to videos captured by a Japanese astronomer.

The moon bizarrely lit up late Oct. 30 and again on Nov. 1 — as astronomers assured that it wasn’t a spooky surprise but a common interstellar phenomenon that one museum curator in Japan was lucky enough to capture on film.

Daichi Fujii, an astronomer and curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum, shared the seemingly mundane footage of the first strike on Oct. 30 — but helped explain the visuals so that even the layman viewer could appreciate its wonder.

“Since the moon has no atmosphere, meteors cannot be seen, and it lights up at the moment a crater is formed,” Fujii wrote on X.

In the video, his telescope captured a small burst of light that slowly faded within seconds. Fujii said the asteroid likely came from “the Taurus Southern Meteor Shower or Northern Meteor Shower,” which was approaching its peak over Halloween weekend.

The first meteoroid was likely just 0.4 lbs — but excavated a 10-foot-wide crater on impact, Fujii told Space.com.

“The pixels were saturated, so it’s possible the flash was even brighter than the recorded data suggests,” Fujii told the outlet.

Fujii shared another video on Nov. 1 that featured a second asteroid hitting the moon. He said that the space junk likely deviated from the same meteor shower as the one on Halloween Eve.

Because the moon has no atmosphere, as Fujii elucidated, there’s nothing that can slow down approaching objects — including wayward meteors.

Many approach at blinding speeds upward of 160,000 mph, which create powerful bursts of light and heat on impact.

The resulting craters can be anywhere from tens to hundreds of feet wide, depending on the size and weight of the rock. One weighing 11 pounds can create a 30-foot-wide crater, according to NASA.