WASHINGTON -- Numerous viewers e-mailed News4 Monday night after seeing a possible meteor in the skies over the Washington area.There were at least three reported fireballs visible between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.Elizabeth Warner, the director of the University of Maryland observatory, believes the fireballs were actually a string of very bright meteors.
"Usually it's just a grain of sand moving through space so fast that when it hits the earth's atmosphere, it rubs against it, and so you have friction," she said.That causes the meteor to burn, creating the fireball. Warner said it's unlikely any debris landed in the D.C. area, even though many folks thought it was right above Washington.There have been other reported sightings in the past, like a fireball seen in Fairfax County in 1992, but officials said it's rare for so many people to see the same thing on the same night.If you happened to see bright lights in the sky at about 9:15 p.m., let us know.
