Neon green fireball streaks across night sky in five western states. See it zoom past

An enormous bright green sphere illuminated the night sky, sending people across five states rushing to their windows and out their doors to catch a glimpse.

The Sept. 23 event prompted hundreds of reports to the national fireball log, and a flood of footage immediately circulated online.

“We received 206 reports about a fireball seen over CA, ID, NV, OR and WA,” the American Meteor Society said.

Most people didn’t know what the flash was, taking to social media to broadcast their wonder and inquiry.

“This huge, bright, ball of fire seemed to fall just over the ridge of trees!” Fiora Starchild-Wolf said in a post on Facebook. “At first I wondered if it was a plane going down, because it was so big and bright.”

A video shared by the American Meteor Society shows what looks like a green spotlight making its way across the blackened sky.

Experts told the Salem Statesman Journal the fireball was a meteor, likely composed of ice, metal and stone.

“Fireballs are caused by space rocks that enter the Earth’s atmosphere and are slowed down and heated by friction. Objects that cause fireballs can be larger than one meter in size,” Jim Todd, director of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, told the outlet.

The object was traveling at around 50,000 miles per hour, experts estimated. It disintegrated about 34 miles above Bohemia Mountain east of Eugene, the outlet reported.

Anyone who saw this event or another fireball event can report the sighting with the American Meteor Society’s fireball log.

This story was originally published September 25, 2024 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Neon green fireball streaks across night sky in five western states. See it zoom past."