See 'Stunning' Fireball in the Sky Caught on Camera

Meteor society logged over 95 reported sightings across the Northeast.

ByABC News
July 18, 2014, 12:26 PM

— -- A North Carolina man driving down a street Thursday night caught footage of a fireball in the sky that was apparently visible to people in at least six other states.

Dan Perjar, a 24-year-old software developer at North Carolina State University, recorded the meteor on his dash cam while driving on I-440 from Cary, North Carolina, toward the Raleigh campus around 10:17 p.m. Thursday.

"When it first appeared, it honestly looked like someone had shot some fireworks off in their backyard; it was that stunning," the Raleigh resident told ABC News. "I quickly realized it was much larger and much further away when it exploded and lit up the clouds beneath it.

"It streaked with a definite green and gold color as it broke up in its descent," Perjar said. "It seemed to explode multiple times."

Perjar, who said he watched a documentary about the Chelyabinsk meteor just days before, knew the fireball was likely a meteor.

More than 95 reports of the fireball came in between 10:12 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. ET from people across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, according to the American Meteor Society.

Sightings were reported in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

“There was a very bright light at the beginning of the event: looked like lightning, but then I turned and saw the fireball descending and fragmenting,” Matthew K. of Chesapeake, Virginia, reported to the meteor society.

Amanda K. of Baily, North Carolina wrote, “It was crazy, I had no idea what I had seen,” describing the meteor as a “white ball with slight blue outline with white glowing trail.”

Matt S. of Clayton, Delaware, reported that seeing the fireball was “truly an amazing sight. [A] once in a lifetime experience I’ll never forget.”

Perjar agreed that it was quite the experience: "It's definitely the most interesting thing I've caught on my dash cam yet."