FIREBALL: Viewers spot meteor streaking across night sky

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By Vicki Graf

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A bright light, streaking across the night sky was a delight to many across the Carolinas and throughout the Southeast.

A meteor streaked across the sky at about 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, according to reports from American Meteor Society observers.

Viewers from Stanly County to Charlotte to South Carolina contacted Channel 9 about seeing the fireball.

(Photo taken on Wilkinson Boulevard in Charlotte)

“Anyone see that huge meteor that went for miles from west to east on a fairly flat trajectory?” one viewer asked Channel 9. “Long, white tail and throwing off sparks.Have never seen one like that before. We live in the country in Locust and could see it for a long distance. WOW!”

(Click PLAY to watch a scientific explanation of a fireball)

Did you see it and have video or photographs? Send them to web@wsoctv.com

A fireball, or a bright meteor, starts as debris in outer space traveling at more than 22,000 mph. As it enters the earth’s atmosphere, it slows down generating a lot of energy which can be seen as a bright flashing light.

The path of the fireball sightings appear to have started near Greenville, South Carolina and traveled about 215 miles to Myrtle Beach.

People reported seeing it from Jacksonville, Florida to Roanoke, Virginia.

People seeing meteors is not uncommon, said Jim Craig, director of the planetarium at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia.

"Well, you can see a meteor on almost any clear night," Craig said.

But this meteor was bigger, brighter and lasted longer than others.

"Sometimes, there are meteor showers,” Craig said. “That's cometary debris that we see and you can see several per hour, sometimes, a couple per minute."

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