Rare Fireball Spotted In Sky Over Virginia: Did You See It?

A suspected meteor that shook homes when it fell over the Cleveland, Ohio, area on Tuesday was spotted and heard in several states, including Virginia, according to officials.

The rare fireball startled residents, who reported hearing a boom that some compared to an explosion when it streaked across the sky around 9 a.m.

People hundreds of miles away reported seeing the bright fireball, according to the American Meteor Society, which received reports of sightings from several states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan.

The American Meteor Society recorded at least one sighting in Virginia from a person in Fauquier County.

Maryland residents on the Eastern Shore also reported spotting the meteor.

The National Weather Service in Cleveland reported hearing the boom and felt the vibrations, and suspected it was a meteor. They had no early reports of any debris being found.

“There could be some small fragments, but a lot of it would have burned up in the atmosphere,” NWS meteorologist Brian Mitchell said.

Meteors typically fall somewhere in the U.S. about once a day, while smaller pieces of space dust might fall 10 times an hour, American Meteor Society Executive Director Carl Hergenrother told The Associated Press.

Scientists track meteors through a network of special cameras that help capture the night sky, but more members of the public are catching them on cellphones and security cameras of their own.

“This one really does look like it’s a fireball, which means it’s a meteorite — a small asteroid,” Hergenrother said. “So much stuff is being launched that a lot of times what you see burning up is just reentering satellites. But usually those don’t get especially bright."

Currently, there are no active meteor showers until the Lyrids begin on April 17.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.