A huge ball of fire that streaked across the sky at 36,000 mph over Washington DC and New York sparked major panic.
The fireball, likely a meteor or rock from outer space, entered Earth’s atmosphere and quickly caught the eye as it streaked across the sky.
Reports began pouring in at 9.30pm on Sunday when the explosion was first spotted. 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 wide streak – before it went off with a loud bang somewhere in Virginia.
“What was amazing was how brilliant it was,” one person tweeted Sunday night.
A massive fireball that streaked 36,000 miles per hour across the skies of Washington, DC and New York caused major panic on Sunday night.
The fireball, likely a meteor or rock from outer space, entered Earth’s atmosphere and quickly caught the eye as it streaked across the sky.
Experts say it’s likely the fireball was a meteor that streaked across the mid-Atlantic and northeast.
According to NASA’s Meteor Watch Facebook page, the fireball was first spotted about 50 miles above Forest Hill, Maryland.
At that time, it was recorded as hurtling through the sky 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 equal to that of a quarter moon and traveling just over 55 miles through the atmosphere,” reads- we in an article.
The post’s comments were filled with users who shared their own experiences after seeing the fireball.
“We saw it last night on the Long Island Expressway!! It was pretty amazing to see!!’ one person wrote.
‘I saw this around 9:20 p.m. in the Canaan Valley, West Virginia: a bright green meteor with a long tail tinged with coppery orange around the edges! It was amazing!’
“I witnessed the latter as well. It was spectacular. Very bright and very large.
On social media, users echoed commenters on the Nasa Meteor Watch post.
“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 ball of fire in photos and videos of the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday evening
The ball of fire in a video from the Washington, DC area on Sunday
Throughout its short existence, the meteor burned rapidly and gave off an orange hue as well as a long green tail.
Reports indicate that the fireball reached a luminosity equal to a quarter moon.
Experts say the fireball most likely became a meteor as it traveled through the atmosphere. A fireball is a ball of fire that explodes at the end of its life.
Throughout the night, hundreds of people reported the fireball, according to the American Mogenic Society.
Some netizens said the fireball silently streaked across the sky while others said they heard loud noises, including a boom at the end.
This sighting across the mid-Atlantic and northeast comes just days after a similar fireball streaked across the skies of Turkey.
Stunning video shows the bright light burst across the sky, much to the shock and surprise of residents watching the display.
These incidents are common as “several thousand fireball-sized meteors” enter Earth’s atmosphere every day, according to the American Meteor Society.
“Those that occur at night are also unlikely to be detected due to the relatively low number of people to notice them,” they say.
