A huge fireball that sped through the air at 58,000 km/hr over Washington DC and New York has caused widespread panic.
The fireball, believed to be a meteor or rock from outer space, entered the Earth’s atmosphere and quickly attracted attention as it streaked across the sky.
The reports poured in at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, when the blast was first noticed. The fireball was seen as far south as Richmond, Virginia, and as far north as New York.
Online users shared dozens of photos and videos Sunday night showing the big streak — before it went off with a loud bang somewhere in Virginia.
“What was amazing is how clear it was,” someone tweeted Sunday night.
A massive fireball that sped through the sky at 56,000 miles per hour and spanned the skies of Washington, D.C. and New York caused widespread panic Sunday night
The fireball, believed to be a meteor or rock from outer space, entered Earth’s atmosphere and quickly attracted attention as it streaked across the sky
Experts say the fireball was likely a meteor that spanned the Mid-Atlantic and northeast.
According to the NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page, the fireball was first spotted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Forest Hill, Maryland.
At the time, it was recorded hurtling through the air at 36,000 mph.
From there, the fireball entered Pennsylvania, according to the page.
“It disintegrated at an altitude of 22 miles above Gnatstown, Pennsylvania, after reaching a luminosity equivalent to that of a quarter Moon and traveling a little over 55 miles through the atmosphere,” the report read.
The comments on the post are littered with users sharing their own experiences of seeing the fireball.
“We saw it last night on the Long Island Expressway!! It was pretty awesome to watch!!’ one person wrote.
“I saw this at about 9:20 PM in Canaan Valley, WV: a bright green meteor with a long tail, tinged with coppery orange at the edges! It was amazing!’
‘I have also experienced the latter. It was spectacular. Very bright and very large.’
On social media, users echoed commenters on the Nasa Meteor Watch message.
“I saw it in Metuchen, New Jersey. It was bright green! One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Twitter user Collin Gross wrote.
The fireball in photos and video from Sunday’s Mid-Atlantic
The fireball in a video from the Washington, DC area on Sunday
During its short existence, the meteor burned up quickly and gave off an orange hue, along with a long green tail.
Reports indicate that the fireball reached a brightness equivalent to a quarter moon.
Experts say the fireball most likely became a bolide as it traveled through the atmosphere. A bolide is a fireball that explodes at the end of its life.
Hundreds of people shared reports of the fireball throughout the night, according to the American Meteorological Society.
Some online said the fireball passed silently through the air, while others said they heard loud noises, including a boom at the end.
The sighting in the Mid-Atlantic and northeast comes just days after a similar fireball swept through the sky in Turkey.
A stunning video showed the bright light bursting through the sky, much to the shock and surprise of residents watching the display.
The incidents are common because “several thousand fireball-sized meteors” enter Earth’s atmosphere every day, the American Meteor Society says.
“The cases that occur at night also have little chance of being detected, because relatively few people notice them,” they say.