A massive fireball lit up the night sky across New England, with nearly 200 sightings pouring in as far away as Pennsylvania.
Breathtaking video captured the blazing object plummeting towards the Earth around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Some witnesses reported hearing a colossal "boom" after it touched down, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS).
The non-profit, which collects data on meteoric phenomena, says it received more than 170 reports from people in nine U.S. states and in Canada.
"The fireball was seen primarily from Maine but witnesses from Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ontario (Canada) and Québec (Canada) also reported the event,” AMS reported.
Maine's Portland Police Department was among those that released video of the incredible sight. It was one they playfully hinted as being linked to creatures from another world.
"Sgt. Farris was looking for speeder's while parked in front of the central fire station and was able to observe some visitors 'from away'....far away," the department posted on Facebook. "The meteor (or alien spaceship) was caught on camera at approximately 0050 hours. Let's hope the visitors are friendly. They could just be some of Stephen King's friends on there (sic) way to visit him. Whom ever they are I'm sure we could win them over with a whoopie pie."
The AMS defines a fireball as a very bright meteor, one that gives off a light that’s brighter than the planet Venus -- a magnitude -4 -- in the morning or evening sky. A bolide fireball is a type that explodes, giving off a bright flash and often with visible fragmentation.
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