Michiganders, Midwesterners Report Seeing ‘Fireball’ Across the Sky

Over the weekend, dozens of Michiganders, and some Ohioans, claimed they saw "fireballs" in the sky over the Lake Erie area. In fact, some sightings were reported of a "Massive" fireball in the sky from Iowa, and as far north even as Ontario, Canada.

Normally, if it were just a couple of people, we'd just shrug it off, and move on. But now nearly 60 reports have come in, and people are saying what they saw was "spectacular."

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First off, what these people saw was NOT a UFO. Between 11:30, and 11:45 ET, nearly 60 reports were sent in to the American Meteor Society (AMS) about a long-tracked object in the sky that was seen streaking above the horizon in most places, flashing very brightly.

In some instances, it was even bright enough to shine through the clouds. One person who lives in Utica, New York said they had no problem picking it out through cloud cover.

One person in Niles, Michigan, even claimed it looked like it was falling "behind clouds," but there were not clouds in the area.

Several people described it as "massive," and looked like a bright white flash with a blue halo, and just as quick as it appeared, it was gone.

One person, John H. from New Carlisle, Ohio, just north of Dayton, claimed he even heard a "boom" five minutes after it streaked across the Sky.

So What Was This Bright "Fireball" in the Sky?

NASA and the AMS reported 57 calls from the State of Michigan alone, all along the southern Half of the lower peninsula, stating they saw, or in some instances captured the fireball on video. But what is NASA saying.

Well, they, and the AMS say it was just a meteor.

"Bits of rock and ice ejected from comets as they move in their orbits around the sun."

At the moment, Earth is passing through the "debris field" of Halley's Comet, which Earth won't see in its skies again until July of 2061. However, the debris left by its tail creates a yearly meteor shower called the Eta Aquariids, and they peaked over the May 4-5 weekend.

The shower is usually more visible in the southern hemisphere, however some meteors have been observed in the northern hemisphere, and this is most likely what people saw in the sky this past weekend.

Watch the video below, submitted to the AMS via Anne Wolfe in Urbana, Illinois, of the fireball in the sky from this past weekend. You can see it start to streak across the sky at around the 0:14 mark.