'Daytime Fireball' Seen By 200 From Maryland To Boston

Just ahead of this weekend's Orionid meteor shower peak, about 200 people from Boston to Maryland's Eastern Shore spotted a daytime fireball in the sky. The fireball — a meteor, in fact — was seen above Long Island, New York, about 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to the American Meteor Society. Most of the fireball observers were in New York and New Jersey, but the bright, streaking meter was also seen from Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Baltimore.

The Orionid meteor shower peak runs from Oct. 20-22, but observant skywatchers may already see a few meteors streaking across the sky from the annual show. The meteors — some of the fastest and brightest produced by any showers this year — will continue to fly through Nov. 7 as Earth hits a stream of debris left behind by Halley’s Comet head-on.

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A Wicomico County, Maryland, resident reported, "This was the brightest most spectacular meteor/fireball I have ever seen and my first daytime sighting! Also witnessed by my 25-year-old son who was with me."

A Cockeysville man told the meteor society, "It looked similar to a bullet traveling through water - very fast and then the streak got bigger and then continued on before disappearing in a south by south east direction."

Anyone who saw the fireball can file a report on the American Meteor Society website, which has 197 reported sightings, so far, of Wednesday's meteor.

SEE ALSO: Orionid Meteor Shower 2017: Peak Dates, Live Stream, What Maryland Can See Right Now

The fireball was caught briefly on video, and shared to YouTube by user Radcakes.com. Take a look it shows up best at about the 10-second mark.

The Orionids, so-named because they originate from near the constellation Orion (The Hunter), are expected to produce between 10 to 30 meteors an hour this year, though in some years as many as 80 meteors an hour can blaze across the sky.

As with most meteor showers, the best time to view them is after midnight through the pre-dawn hours. Maryland's sky-watchers have a pretty good chance of catching the show. The National Weather Service says that skies will be mostly clear on Thursday and Friday nights, and partly cloudy on Saturday and Sunday nights.

The Slooh website says it will have a live stream of the meteor showerstarting at 8 p.m. ET Friday, and its astronomers will be on to explain the celestial show.

Image of fireball over Long Island, NY, from YouTube video posted by Radcackes.com