A giant fireball suddenly lit up the sky towards the northeastern region of United States on Tuesday, May 17 which resulted in a sudden deluge of reports by sky watching citizens who were amazed by this cosmic spectacle, as this stunning meteor zipped by night skies. Some who are near the area can also go for meteorite hunting, where some amateur astronomers are excited to find a piece of this space rock.

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Many have uploaded numerous views of this fireball online, that also include videos from car dashboard cameras in Maine and New York, that were mostly described a sudden bright streak of light flashing across the wee hours of the morning, around 12:50 A.M. EDT. 

According to astronomers from the American Meteor Society, there were two space objects that gained entry into the planet's atmosphere. The AMS also posted some views of their fireball footage as the meteor streaked the skies. This dazzling sky event was mostly visible in Maine, which accounted for more than 800 reports all over eight neighboring states and even Ontario and Quebec.  

At the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel, museum officials are now offering US $20,000 for those who can recover the first piece of meteorite that weighs at least 2.2 pounds. Once confirmed, this meteorite will be placed on display at the Meteorite Hall of the museum.

The museum also revealed a press release stating that there is clear evidence that the meteoroid entered the planet's atmosphere over the state of Maine, where a terminal explosion happened some 18.6 miles west of Rangley in Franklin County in Maine.

According to museum director Barbra Barrett, this has been a very exciting opportunity for everyone and we would very much appreciate the public's help. Apart from this recent fireball, the museum is currently undertaking a new project that involves a camera network across the state to capture passing fireballs to better locate these events. The museum network will be ready next year. 

How do fireballs occur? Smaller space objects such as space rocks that enter the atmosphere of the planet break up into pieces as they also burn up in the process. Fortunately, this fireball pose no risk to infrastructures and humans. Past events such as the giant fireball that blazed the sky in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013 caused minor damage to property, as a sonic boom shattered glass in buildings and injured some citizens as well.

Tagsfireball, Maine, New York, meteors