PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A police sergeant looking for speeders captured a fireball streaking across the sky on his dashboard camera early Tuesday.
The bright flash visible from several states was apparently left by a meteor burning up as it passed through Earth’s atmosphere. Other people and webcams also captured images of the fireball.
The American Meteor Society reported more than 300 sightings in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and parts of Canada.
Portland police Sgt. Tim Farris was parked in front of the Central Fire Station when his camera captured the meteor lighting up the sky.
The shocked officer was heard saying, “Oh, my God!”
Webcams in Portsmouth Harbor in New Hampshire and at the Burlington Airport in Vermont captured the fireball. Video shot by another officer in New York and a motorist in Vermont also surfaced.
The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum suspects the meteor crashed into the woods of northwestern Maine, based on preliminary findings. It’s offering a $20,000 reward if someone recovers a piece of the meteorite weighing at least 2.2 pounds.
