A spectacular fireball lit up the sky over Southern California on Saturday night, captivating residents and sparking excitement across the region.
ABC7 director Mike Gilbert captured the remarkable event on video from the station's studios in Glendale. The American Meteor Society confirmed that the bright streak was indeed a fireball, not a rocket launch or satellite re-entry.
Fireballs are meteors that shine brighter than any star or planet in the sky. While typical meteors, often called "shooting stars," disintegrate high in the atmosphere, fireballs can sometimes produce meteorites, which are fragments that reach the ground. However, this occurrence is extremely rare.
The American Meteor Society reported receiving over 30 sightings of the fireball, though it noted that it typically receives around 100 fireball reports daily from around the world. Despite their frequency, experts say that most people only witness a few fireballs in their lifetime.