A Bright Flash In The Sky Seen Across Northeast of US Is Being Called The "New England Fireball." See It Here!
By Dreamer
The American Meteor Society has received 425 reports so far about a fireball event over Northeastern US on May 17th 2016 around 12:50am EDT (4:50 UT). 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.
As Earth orbits through the tail of Halley's Comet, it produces a meteor shower called the Eta Aquarids, which we are currently in the midst of. The meteors can reach speeds of over 40 miles per second — that would be one nasty speeding ticket.
When a meteor is so bright that it outshines the rest of the sky, it's called a fireball. Fireballs are created when the debris is either larger than normal, or moving at incredibly fast speeds.
This particular meteor was so bright it lit up the entire New England sky. It was reported by witnesses in several northeastern US states as well as parts of Canada.
