A meteorite struck the northeastern United States, which some described as the “most spectacular thing ever seen”. Fireball was spotted in six different states, including Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and in the Canadian city of Toronto, showing just how bright the meteorite was.
The cameras picked up the event, shining a huge blue stream across the night sky.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the International Meteorological Organization (IMO) to report the sighting, as some feared a nuclear attack was imminent.
Kim told IMO: “The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
Adam said: “It was so fast, I honestly waited in the middle of the road until an explosion came. I thought for a second that it was a nuclear attack!”
Mason added: “I do not believe what I saw. I felt the fireworks for a second on the fourth of July. Really wonderful.”
Miles said: “It was so cold! When I walked out the back door, I saw the flash.
“Although it was a firecracker it was very loud and clear. No sound.”
Fireballs are an often harmless phenomenon that occurs when a space rock hits the atmosphere around a meteorite.
These rocks orbit around space without air resistance, so as soon as they face the atmosphere, the air goes into its pores and avoids it, causing a bright eruption.
The IMO said: “Fireballs are meteors that appear brighter than normal.
“Because of the speed at which they hit the Earth’s atmosphere, fragments more than a millimeter high are capable of generating a bright flash as they pass through the skies above.
“These bright meteorites are what we call fireballs, and they often cause fear and awe to those who see them.”
However, sometimes, a large rock goes to Earth – which is clear from the Chelyabinsk meteorite attack.
The 20-meter space rock hit the Earth’s atmosphere above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, causing an eruption that shattered windows across the city and injured more than 1,000 people.
