Tengu

one of the actually better known Yokai. In the three forms I know so far.

Left: Dai-Tengu (mostly human)
Middle: Taimatsu-Maru (Balanced mix of human and crow features, engulfed in flames)
Right: Ko-Tengu (mostly oversized crow)

The Name Tengu derrivated from the chinese Tian-gou, wich means heavenly dog. It is suggested, that the heavenly dog described a comet that fell on a battlefield. When returning , the soldiers would probably find dogs eating at the corpses of the fallen, somehow making a connection between the comet and the dogs.
In japan, dogs wherent as common. It was more often sighted that Kites and crows would feed on corpses. Wich might be thre reason why the tengu has a birdlike appearance, rather than doglike in japan.
The comet theory interrests me, because with the Taimatsu Maro, a being wrapped in flames flying over the sky, we might have a nice description of a comet at hand.