Fireball lights up New Jersey night sky days after eclipse, earthquake

Metro

By Patrick Reilly

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A massive fireball lit up the sky across New Jersey early Wednesday morning in what has already been a bizarre week of natural phenomena in the Garden State and surrounding area, including an earthquake and the solar eclipse.

An apparent meteor falling to earth created a brilliant streak of light, with residents in several New Jersey towns — as well as some parts of Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania — reporting the spectacle to the American Meteor Society.

Security camera video posted on Facebook by Linda Price Heines from her home in Wall Township, New Jersey shows the flash fly across the sky within just a couple of seconds at 3:43 a.m.

The AMS website, which allows people to self report their experiences, shows there were numerous reports of sightings from residents in the region around the same time frame

One man, who gave his name as Darren T, said he saw the light in Hackettstown in Warren County — about 50 miles west of New York City.

“This was the first time I ever saw this in my area,” he wrote in his report. “I have seen shooting stars but this was the first time I observed this.”

Linden, New Jersey resident Christina V. said she had just gotten out of the shower sometime around 3:40 a.m. when she was alarmed by what she saw in the sky.

“I saw a bright green almost neon in color falling from the sky. There wasn’t any long trails or anything but it did fall and disappear,” she wrote. I was watching it through a window so that might’ve affected my vision but I was just left there stunned. I rushed to tell my boyfriend what I saw and instantly went online to check if it was normal.”

Dawn B., of Mount Kisco in Westchester County, New York called it “incredible.”

“Kind of surreal,” she noted.