Over 200 people reported seeing a meteor fly over D.C., Maryland, Virginia and other northeastern states on Wednesday evening, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS).
Dozens of people reported seeing the bright orb flash across the sky in Maryland and Virginia. The fireball was seen as far south as Lynchburg and Richmond, Virginia, and north toward Toronto, Canada, according to reports submitted to the website.
William J. Cooke, the lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office, said the bright meteor began visible above Syndersburg, Pennsylvania, and moved northeast at about 30,400 miles per hour.
"The tiny piece of an asteroid causing the fireball disintegrated 23 miles above wooded terrain just north of Hallton. The clouds and haze do not allow for an accurate estimate of the fireball’s brightness nor of the mass of the object producing it," Cooke wrote.
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Donald Bradner posted footage from a security camera in Lisden, Virginia, showing a bright flash for fewer than five seconds.
A user on Reddit shared dashcam footage showing the light near Interstate 66.
Fireballs are officially considered very bright meteors — ones that appear brighter than the planet Venus, according to AMS. We’ve reached out to NASA to ask how they’re designating this celestial event.
“Several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth’s atmosphere each day,” AMS said. “The vast majority of these, however, occur over the oceans and uninhabited regions, and a good many are masked by daylight.”
Did you take any photos or video of the possible meteor? Tag @nbcwashington on social media, email isee@nbcwashington.com or submit it here!
