A mysterious fireball was spotted falling from the night sky over New Jersey early Wednesday morning, adding to a week of natural phenomena in the area that included a solar eclipse and an earthquake. The bright fireball was captured on video by residents in several New Jersey towns around 3:45 a.m., lighting up the sky in a dazzling display.
The American Meteor Society received numerous reports of the fireball sighting, with witnesses also reporting seeing it in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. Doorbell camera footage from a resident in Millville, New Jersey, showed the fiery object falling from the sky and expanding before disappearing, while another resident in Wall Township shared security footage of the same bright light falling at the same time.
Witnesses described the fireball as a “bright green flashing ball,” with one observer suggesting it may have been a meteorite due to its striking green color. Interestingly, this sighting comes just ahead of the upcoming Lyrids Meteor Shower, one of the oldest known meteor showers caused by particles of dust shed by the Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher.
The fireball event follows a series of natural occurrences in the area, including Monday’s solar eclipse and a 4.8 magnitude earthquake in New Jersey last Friday. Last week in California, residents witnessed bright fiery lights streaking across the night sky, which was later confirmed to be debris from the Chinese Shenzhou 15 Orbital Module rocket re-entering Earth’s atmosphere near Los Angeles.
As skygazers prepare for the Lyrids Meteor Shower, the recent fireball sighting has added another exciting element to the string of celestial events in the region.
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