A meteor streaked across the sky over New Jersey, immediately after a series of surprising natural phenomena, including an earthquake and a solar eclipse.
Security camera video posted to Facebook by Linda Price Heines shows the fireball, a term used to denote a meteor that is larger and brighter than usual, streak across the sky in the early morning hours of Wednesday. .
Wall Township residents reacted to the spectacle on social media, and Heine explained that her neighbor sent her the impressive video.
“And it’s on mine too,” he said of his home security camera. “We often check our cameras in the morning to see wildlife passing through our gardens.”
The fireball’s appearance prompted dozens of reports to the American Meteor Society between 3:40 and 3:55 a.m.
A fireball streaked across the sky in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with sightings reported throughout the New York tristate area.
New Jersey resident Linda Price Heines uploaded home security camera footage to Facebook, showing the bright green flare lasting only a few seconds.
The fireball, a meteor that is larger and brighter than usual, was seen for between 1.5 seconds and 7.5 seconds, according to reports on the American Meteor Society website.
About 60 different reports, which are considered unofficial until they are reviewed by the AMS, were recorded in the New York tri-state area as well as from eastern Pennsylvania to southern Delaware.
Some people reported seeing a glimpse that was only 1.5 seconds long, while others witnessed the dazzling display for up to 7.5 seconds.
One man, who identified himself as Darren T, wrote that he saw the light in Hackettstown, New Jersey, about 50 miles from 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.”
A resident of Linden, New Jersey, named Christina V., said she had just gotten out of the shower around 3:40 a.m. when she looked outside.
‘I saw a bright green color, almost neon, falling from the sky. There were no long trails or anything, but she fell and disappeared,” the woman reported.
“I was looking at it through a window and that could have affected my vision, but I stood there stunned. I rushed to tell my boyfriend what I saw and instantly went online to check if it was normal.”
A man from Hamburg, New Jersey, said he was baffled by what he saw.
“I had never seen anything like it before,” he wrote, remembering “a flash, then a bright blue object heading downward.”
Another witness from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, called the display “one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life.”
Some reports detailed a bright green fireball, while others described it as blue. Above all, the witnesses were amazed by its beauty.
“It was absolutely beautiful and I’m so grateful I was able to watch at that exact moment,” wrote one person from Milford in Hunterdon County.
The fireball occurred less than a week after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area.
It was just days after a partial solar eclipse captivated the attention of millions across the United States.
The eclipse reached totality in upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania
The phenomenon attracted crowds of people to the streets, wearing special glasses.
The sighting of the meteorite occurred a few days after two natural phenomena, an earthquake and a solar eclipse, shook the area.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, on Friday morning.
The tremors struck along a 185-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 to the streets, equipped with special 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 in the late night hours of April 22 and in the early morning hours of April 23.