KNXV-TV photographer Brien McElhatten captured images of the suspected meteor. (KNXV-TV) |
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- A mysterious ball of light spotted in the sky Wednesday night, leading to thousands of reports of meteor sightings from Los Angeles to Phoenix, was probably a basketball-sized asteroid fragment, an expert said Thursday.
The California Highway Patrol received numerous reports of fast-moving green, orange and blue flashes of light from Riverside, Palm Springs, Indio and the Salton Sea.
The FAA confirmed that the object was not a plane.
People in Phoenix, Yuma and Las Vegas also reported seeing the flashes.
The glowing object was probably a "near-earth asteroid," which likely incinerated before striking the ground, NASA expert Don Yeomans told KTLA.
Yeomans says the asteroid fragment was probably the size of a basketball.
NASA officials checked to make sure the object was not a spacecraft or space junk, he added.
Yeomans says pieces of asteroids typically go unseen when they enter the Earth's atmosphere because they're over the ocean.
Photo credit: KNXV-TV
The California Highway Patrol received numerous reports of fast-moving green, orange and blue flashes of light from Riverside, Palm Springs, Indio and the Salton Sea.
The FAA confirmed that the object was not a plane.
People in Phoenix, Yuma and Las Vegas also reported seeing the flashes.
The glowing object was probably a "near-earth asteroid," which likely incinerated before striking the ground, NASA expert Don Yeomans told KTLA.
Yeomans says the asteroid fragment was probably the size of a basketball.
NASA officials checked to make sure the object was not a spacecraft or space junk, he added.
Yeomans says pieces of asteroids typically go unseen when they enter the Earth's atmosphere because they're over the ocean.
Photo credit: KNXV-TV
