A meteor between the size of a baseball and a bowling ball zipped over Alabama and Georgia last night, the object gave off a spectacular light show and emitted sonic booms to the delight (and in some cases terror) of spectators.
The meteor traveled across the sky at break-neck speeds of 73,000 miles per hour, AL.com reported.
"We tracked it down to the altitude of 25 miles, which is very low for a meteor," Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environments Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center, told AL.com.
The bright object was classified a "fireball."
"A fireball is bright meteor, a meteor brighter than the planet Venus," Cooke said. "This one looks like it was as bright as the moon was tonight."
The American Meteor Society took down accounts of the fireball's startling appearance, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
"It was quite large and coming straight down," Trey J." from Buford reported. "It looked like it was really close. There was nothing behind it and it was glowing green. It was amazing."
Some people thought the object was an off-season firecracker.
"My first thought was that it was a Roman candle since it was green and large. I live seven miles east of Marietta and it appeared to fall on Marietta. It lasted three to four seconds. I have never seen such a sighting in my 65 years," Royce L. reported.
Others knew they were looking at a meteor, but had never seen such a dramatic appearance.
"It was so bright and big that I expect to hear and possibly see the impact. It also had an unusual teal halo color around it with a long tail. I have seen many meteors, but never like this one," Tim V reported.
Music fans at a Mumford and Sons concert reported seeing the fireball's light, the Associated Press via the Washington Post reported.
In February, a meteor the size of a bus exploded over a Russian city, injuring 1,000 people, Space.com reported.
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