Fireball spotted by hundreds zooming over eastern US, Canada
Fireballs are exceptionally bright meteors that can be seen over a very wide area. Nearly 700 people have reported seeing a fireball over the eastern US and Ontario, Canada.
Fireball spotted over 12 states
The American Meteor Society received more than 600 reports of a meteor or fireball zooming over the eastern U.S. on Dec. 1. (Video credits: Stephen Martin/Bill Ericson/AMS)
A possible meteor was seen shooting across the sky Thursday night along the U.S. East Coast, according to the American Meteor Society.
Reports of the fireball started coming in late Thursday night and early Friday morning over Columbus, Ohio. The AMS received nearly 700 reports from people who spotted the meteor shooting across 12 states and Ontario, Canada.
According to the AMS fireball event map, people in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and up into Ontario spotted the shooting star as it crashed across Earth's atmosphere. People as far south as Tennessee and South Carolina also reported seeing the fireball.
Video recorded by doorbell cameras and onlookers showed the bright light moving quickly across the night sky.
A fireball seen over Wadsworth, Ohio on Dec. 1, 2022.(Image: Stephen Martin/American Meteor Society)
New reports were still rolling into the AMS as of Friday morning.
DOORBELL CAM CATCHES FIREBALL SHOOTING THROUGH SEATTLE SKY
According to NASA, fireballs are exceptionally bright meteors that can be seen over a vast area.
Currently, the Geminid meteor shower is underway until Dec. 24, considered one of the best meteor showers of the year. However, the peak activity, when sky gazers could see up to 120 meteors per hour, doesn't happen until Dec. 13 and 14.
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We call them shooting stars, but it's actually meteors that create dazzling streaks of light across our night sky.