Astronomers confirm that a bright, dazzling fireball that tore through Japan's night skies was a bolide, or a flaming meteorite.

Seven Japanese prefectures from the west that include Ehime, Fukuoka and Hiroshima reported reports and calls about a speeding ball of light ripping through the expanse of Monday's early night sky.

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A bolide is fireball with an apparent magnitude of -14 or brighter, or brighter than the full moon. Bolides typically burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, creating a fireworks display in the form of a fireball.

Hidehiko Agata from Japan's National Astronomical Observatory said Monday evening's clear skies were ideal conditions to watch the fireball blazing through the night. Experts believe the bolide's remnants and fragments fell into the sea.

In the U.S., Monday night, skies were also filled with bright, falling objects. The first one was considered a meteor that was visible in 11 states from Georgia to North Carolina and Maryland to as far as Ohio.

Witnesses described the bolide as glowing with a bright shade of green. According to the American Meteor Society, more than 300 reports from eyewitnesses flooded the agency after the fireball.

The second bright object was seen in Chicago's night skies but was travelling at a slower rate than a fireball. Witnesses describe this Chicago "fireball" as a bright light with fragments falling off as if something was burning in the sky.

The "fireball" was actually three skydivers of the Red Bull Air Force gliding towards the city's North Avenue Beach equipped with bright flares. This skydiving stunt was part of the Red Bull Art of Can exhibit in Millenium Park.

Mike Hankey of the American Meteor Society said the organization first thought it was probably space junk entering the Earth's atmosphere but they finally deduced it was something man-made as it was spotted much closer to the surface.

TagsFireball Meteors Spotted Over Japan and U.S. Skies, asteroids, fireballs, meteors, US, bolides, fireball meteor japan US night sky