UFO? Rocketship? No, that flash over Massachusetts last night was an ultra-bright meteor called a fireball.
The flash caused quite the commotion on social media.
The bright flash over the East Coast on Wednesday night wasn’t a UFO, according to the American Meteor Society. It was a fireball, which is science’s way-less-lame term for a very bright meteor.
The fireball was spotted around 11 p.m. from Maine to North Carolina, according to AMS.
We received 200+ reports about a bright fireball over the East Coast (seen from CT, DE, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, VT & VA)
If you saw this event, please report it here: https://t.co/evqkWyLdwG
Report & Est. Trajectory: https://t.co/oZyVwUhzHN
Thank @stranaconda pic.twitter.com/N0NfpxEAs5
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) July 25, 2019
The organization received more than 350 reports of the fireball, which looked like a massive shooting star, according to its website.
From 22,300 miles in space, NOAA’s #GOES16 caught the blue/white flash of a fireball, streaking across the skies just east of #LongIsland, last night. #meteor @amsmeteors pic.twitter.com/Ojjhi3qHQZ
— NOAA Satellites – Public Affairs (@NOAASatellitePA) July 25, 2019
The AMS website says fireballs aren’t all that rare, but many are either masked by daylight or occur over oceans or uninhabited regions, which may be why last night’s sighting caused a stir on social media.
#UFO #meteor just seen in the sky in Central MA. @NBC10Boston take a look. pic.twitter.com/0HS96hmUFf
— Gerry Bourgeois (@RealtyMan) July 25, 2019
I saw a bright green tailed meteor tonight in Taunton, Massachusetts! I’ve never seen anything like that, i thought it was some like, failed firecracker. So cool
— Michael (@Michael_A_Orr) July 25, 2019
Fireballs are classified as meteors that burn brighter than magnitude -4, which is approximately the level at which Venus appears in the sky.
AWS tracks fireball sightings and even has a whole tab dedicated to the phenomenon on its website.
