A meteor streaked through the New Jersey sky on the heels of a series of striking natural phenomena, including an earthquake and a solar eclipse.
A security camera video posted to Facebook by Linda Price Heines shows the fireball — a term used to describe a meteor that is larger and brighter than normal — crossing the sky in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Wall Township residents responded to the spectacle on social media, with Heine explaining that her neighbor sent her the stunning video.
“And it’s on mine too,” she said of her security camera. ‘We often check our cameras in the morning to see the wildlife walking through our gardens.’
The appearance of the fireball led to dozens of reports to the American Meteor Society between 3:40 a.m. and 3:55 a.m.
A fireball flashed across the sky early Wednesday morning, with sightings in the New York tri-state area
The home security camera footage was uploaded to Facebook by New Jersey resident Linda Price Heines, showing the bright green glow lasting only a few seconds
The fireball – a meteor that is larger and brighter than normal – was observed lasting between 1.5 and 7.5 seconds, according to reports on the American Meteor Society website.
About 60 different reports, considered unofficial until reviewed by the AMS, were recorded in the New York tri-state area and from eastern Pennsylvania to southern Delaware.
Some people reported catching a glimpse for just 1.5 seconds, while others witnessed the dazzling display for up to 7.5 seconds.
A man who gave his name as Darren T wrote that he saw the light in Hackettstown, New Jersey, about 50 miles outside of New York City.
“This was the first time I saw this in my area,” he said. “I’ve seen shooting stars, but this was the first time I observed this.”
Christina V., a resident of Linden, New Jersey, said she had just gotten out of the shower around 3:40 a.m. when she looked outside.
“I saw a bright green, almost neon color falling from the sky. There were no long tracks or anything like that, but it fell and disappeared,” the woman reported.
‘I was looking at it through a window, so that might have affected my vision, but I was just left there bewildered. I rushed to tell my friend what I saw and immediately went online to see if it was normal.’
A man from Hamburg, New Jersey, said he was stunned by the sight.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he wrote, recalling “a flash and then a bright blue object coming straight down.”
Another witness from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, called the display “one of the most amazing things I have seen in my life.”
Some reports describe a bright green fireball, while others describe it as blue. Above all, the witnesses were amazed by its beauty.
“It was absolutely beautiful and I’m so grateful I was looking forward to that exact moment,” wrote someone from Milford, Hunterdon County.
The fireball came less than a week after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake rocked the area
It was just days after a partial solar eclipse captured the attention of millions of people in the United States
The eclipse peaked in New York state and parts of Pennsylvania
The phenomenon attracted swarms of people onto the streets, wearing special looking glasses
The meteor sighting took place just days after two natural phenomena, an earthquake and a solar eclipse, shook the area.
The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 near Lebanon, New Jersey on Friday morning.
The tremors were caused along a 180-mile-long fault line and were felt by millions of people in the tri-state area.
Monday’s solar eclipse, which reached totality in upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania, drew thousands of people into the streets, equipped with special viewing glasses.
The fireball also occurred about a week before the annual Lyrid meteor shower, which is expected to begin on April 15 and continue until April 29.
The greatest number of meteors will be visible during the late night hours of April 22 and the early morning hours of April 23.