A bright fireball streaking across the sky was spotted by more than 90 witnesses last Thursday night, sparking discussion and speculation as to what it was. The American Meteor Society (AMS) says it was likely a small chunk of space debris but is waiting for official data to confirm.
More than 90 people, largely from Virginia, reported seeing a brilliant fireball streak through the air only to disappear a moment later Thursday night. The trajectory and exact time of the fireball remains in dispute, but 95 reports to the AMS have revealed more than enough evidence to prove that people who happened to be looking to the skies sometime between 10:15 and 10:45 were not just seeing a trick of the light.
"There was a very bright light at the beginning of the event: looked like lightning, but then I turned and saw the fireball descending and fragmenting," Matthew K. of Chesapeake, Virginia, reported to the meteor society.
Some reports even say that the fireball had a green tinge to it, which could serve as an indication of what the falling object was made of as it burnt to dust in the Earth's atmosphere.
Remarkably, while this specific fireball has caused quite a stir, experts say they are actually quite common.
After a different sizable meteor streaked over the East Coast in 2013, NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com that boulder-sized asteroids and other pieces of space debris actually clash with Earth's atmosphere every two to three days. They are just not often noticed.
"When you have something like this occur at [a reasonable hour of] night over one of the most populated regions of the United States, it's going to get people's attention," Cooke said.
Common or not, it is certainly a fantastic sight to behold. Dan Perjar, in North Carolina was fortunate enough to have a camera rolling when the potential meteor streaked across the sky, and uploaded the brief phenomenon on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.
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