'Fireball' meteor streaks across US sky

Washington: NASA has said that the large vibrant meteor which shot through the US sky shortly after 7:50 pm on Friday appeared to be "a single meteor event."

The meteor travelled from west to east in the northeast sky, eyewitnesses say.

Social media sites were abuzzed with reports of a flash of light that streaked across the sky along the US East Coast.

@capitalweather Yes! It was amazing in Montgomery County Pa. Bright. Orange. Blue. White. Silver. Totally streaking by the sky light! Wow! - E. Steven Collins (@EStevenCollins) wrote on March 23, 2013

@capitalweather yes at 7:53, in the NE from Bethesda, west to east, very green, pretty low in the sky - Richard Kerr (@rkerr46) tweeted.

@capitalweather yes! It was amazing. A boloid, long streak of yellow and then an explosion of white and green. I'm in Bethesda, saw it East. - Naomi Hart (@naomihart) wrote.

Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environmental Office yesterday said that the flash appeared "looks to be a fireball that moved roughly toward the southeast, going on visual reports."

He says the meteor was widely seen, with more than 350 reports on the website of the American Meteor Society alone.

Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, agrees that the sightings had all the hallmarks of a "fireball."