The sky over the Pittsburgh region Thursday night was mostly obliterated by clouds, according to the National Weather Service.
But anyone casting their gaze to the heavens around 7:30 p.m. and was lucky enough to catch a break in the clouds was treated to a spectacular light streaking across the sky.
The American Meteor Society said it received nearly 700 reports from people who saw a green-tinged fireball pass over Pennsylvania and at least 11 other states and in Canada.
The organization defines a fireball is another term for a very bright meteor, generally brighter than magnitude -4, which is about the same magnitude of the planet Venus in the morning or evening sky. Some fireballs are referred to as bolides because they explode in a bright terminal flash at its end, often with visible fragmentation.
“Clouds covered a good portion of the area here,” said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon. “But some of the clouds were high enough and there were periodic breaks that would have made it possible to see something bright like a fireball pass through the sky.”
The AMS said reports about the fireball were received from observers in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia and Ontario.
The organization says from Nov. 19 to Dec. 24, the Geminids are usually the strongest meteor shower of the year with the peak coming on Dec. 13 and 14. The Geminids often are bright and intense in color, according to the group.
Terri James Reighard of Lower Burrell posted on the “Across Westmoreland” Facebook page that her husband witnessed the fireball.
“My husband just saw a big meteorite or satellite that was breaking up across the sky as it fell,” she wrote in the post.
One of the organization’s observers in Irwin reported that the fireball had a green hue as it streamed downward from right to left for about 3.5 seconds.
An observer from Layland, W.Va., commented that the fireball “was bright green and it was obvious it was no ordinary meteor.”
One of the reports from Canada described the fireball as “awesome.”
“Looked like a low plane landing but with green light. Figured it landed just south of London (Ontario) because it went below the tree line.”
A woman from Monroe, N.C., who filed an observation report with the organization described it as “one of the most impressive and long-lived fireballs I’ve witnessed.”
