A blazing meteor that lit up Sunday's night sky was described as bright as a fireball by more than 150 witnesses from eastern U.S. states, said the American Meteor Society.

The bright fireball was spotted just before 11 p.m. EDT. Reports immediately started coming in from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states from New Hampshire to Virginia. The majority of the reports came from densely populated areas such as New York City and Philadelphia.  

Like Us on Facebook

The meteor first entered the Earth's atmosphere over Pennsylvania and locals from Virginia to Massachusetts witnessed this bright fireball, said Mike Hankey, spokesman for the American Meteor Society.

Reports from the American Meteor Society website were all consistent in describing the meteor's change in color with its blinding, brilliant white light turning to yellow, green and then finally an orange hue.

Witnesses further described the meteor as a bottle rocket that zipped through the clouds to the ground, lighting up the eastern sky like fireworks. Some observers even thought it looked like a plane crashing, heading towards the ground.

The American Meteor Society describes the fireball meteor as brighter than the planet Venus.

The reason why most people don't observe meteors is that most of these fireballs occur over oceans or unpopulated places. Often times, meteors are hard to spot, especially when the sun is out.

This meteorite is common nowadays as it is linked to meteor showers that are active during fall. These meteor showers include the Southern Taurids that occur in September to November.

TagsFireball Meteor Spotted Over Eastern US Night Sky, meteors, fireball meteor, fireball meteor last sunday, meteor pennsylvania massachussets virginia new york pittsburgh philadelphia new jersey, american meteor society