Fireball over site of Lockerbie Disaster

Hi everyone. This is my first post so apologies if someone has already posted this from todays (Saturdays) top selling newspaper The Daily Record. I have typed word for word as I cant find anything on their website on it. I just wondered what your thoughts were considering they mentioned objects not object and that there was an earthquake in this area just 2 weeks ago. And for Scotland that is unusual!

Comet blamed for "flare" search.

A Comet may have sparked a major search last night after police were inundated with calls.
Many people claimed to have seen a fireball or flare in the sky near the site of the Lockerbie disaster.
Some callers feared they had spotted an aircraft on fire in the air around the Lochar Moss near Dumfries.
Two RAF search and rescue helicopters from Prestwick Airport and RAF Valley in Wales were called to scour the area but after a two hour search they returned without finding anything.
Police patrols were also sent out after the reports of the fireball sighting.
Last night, one theory was that the sightings may have actually been Comet McNaught.
A police spokesman at Dumfries said "We have had a number of reports of a light in the sky near the Lochar Moss on the outskirts of Dumfries".
"The Calls came with a number of reports of a flare like objects over Dumfries".
"The reports varied in description, with the witnesses describing some form of fireball with smoke trail. The met office offered a possible explanation that Comet McNaught would have been visible in the area between 5pm and 6pm."
Police were last night deciding whether to continue the search this morning.
A total of 270 people were killed when a Pan Am jumbo jet was blown up by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.
This included 11 people from the town.

Is it really possible for that many people to see objects, not an object and for a comet to be so close as to have everyone calling the RAF and Police!