Bright Fireball Streaks Across NJ Skies

Did you see that bright thing in the sky Saturday afternoon? It was a fireball, or a bright meteor, shooting across the sky, according to NASA.

People across New Jersey reported sighting the fireball to the American Meteor Society (AMS), which tracks meteors through eyewitness accounts.

It was also seen in eight other states before breaking up over Massachusetts and New Hampshire, according to NASA and the AMS. The energy released at breakup is equivalent to about about 300 tons of TNT, NASA said.

Most sightings were reported between 2:05 p.m. and 2:10 p.m.

"Everyone on the beach saw the meteor as it came down and burned up," said Noah B., who saw the fireball in Long Beach Township.

"It looked like a shooting star but was very close to the ground and appeared to hit earth, we lost view very close to ground level," Mckenzie C. said in Springfield.

Most of those who saw the fireball described it as orange, red and yellow.

It was seen in Springfield, Beach Haven, Bellmawr, East Windsor, Hamilton, Long Branch, Mount Arlington, Deal, Helmetta, Montville, Denville, West Windsor and Long Beach Township, according to the AMS.