CURRITUCK, N.C. - Something out of this world was caught on a security camera overnight Monday.
Kristina Ulloa, a resident in Currituck on the sound across from the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, shared her footage with News 3. A fireball/meteor can be seen lighting up the sky!
She emailed us asking what was caught on camera and the News 3 First Warning weather team said it appears to be a fireball/meteor, adding a fireball is basically a bright meteor.
The International Meteor Organization says (IMO) on their website, "Fireballs actually occur every day all over the Earth. To the individual though, they are a rare spectacle that is witnessed very few times per lifetime. It must be remembered that fireballs also occur during the day or on a cloudy night. They also occur over the ocean or over uninhabited portions of land. Even if a fireball occurs over your location, you need to be outside facing the right direction or you will still miss it. Therefore the International Meteor Organization takes keen interest in these sightings in the hope that its origin can be determined and that perhaps meteorites can be recovered."
You can even report seeing a fireball with the IMO if you are lucky enough to see one!
Here are the stipulations to report what you have seen from the IMO:
- Please, don't report sighting that lasted more than 30 seconds: the vast majority of fireballs are only visible for few seconds.
- Please, don't report recurring events: seeing a fireball is extremely rare and often an once in a lifetime event.
- Please, don't report slow blinking objects or lights crossing the sky going by 2 or 3: a fireball looks like a big shooting star.
