Some people enjoying the gorgeous weather outside Sunday evening in eastern Virginia finished off the sunny, warm day with a bang...a surprising, unexplained one. Some people in the Virginia Beach area called into 911 centers reporting a bright, streaking light accompanied by explosions Sunday night around 9:45 p.m. Homes were even shaken during the event, according to some who experienced the fireball. Virginians were not the only ones to spot the spectacle, with reports of the fireball coming in from Hampton Roads to Maryland around the same time.
You can read some of the eyewitness accounts here: The Virginian-Pilot
Although there is no official explanation, descriptions of the event point to a meteoric fireball entering the Earth's atmosphere. Space junk is also a possibility. No damage has been reported.
If you spotted the fireball and caught it on camera, email your video or picture file to crose@wtvr.com.
There have been other, similar meteor events in our region. Probably the most famous is the Peekskill Meteorite from October 9, 1992. Thousands of people witnessed the bright meteor, and sixteen cameras captured the green fireball when it passed over parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. You can view video clips of that meteor as it was entering the Earth's atmosphere here.
--Carrie
