NEWS

'Fireball' lights up the sky in Wisconsin Saturday night, seen from Superior to Kenosha

Fond du Lac Reporter

FOND DU LAC — Did you see a streak of light across the sky Saturday night?

If so, you weren't the only one. Fifty-nine people across the states of Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin reported seeing a meteor Saturday night to the International Meteor Organization or American Meteor Society, according to a map developed by the International Meteor Organization, known as "IMO" for short.

Of the 59 reports, more than 35 originated in Wisconsin, with observations coming from as far north as Superior to as far south as Kenosha. Sightings ranged in time from 5:45 to 8:20 p.m., lasting from one second to just over seven, according to the map.

In a video captured by Space Science and Engineering Center and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UW-Madison, viewers can see the fireball flame over Lake Mendota for about seven seconds.

The IMO places the meteor's track as "over the Upper Peninsula," most likely "tens of miles" above the ground for those near the Twin Cities to see it, Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Place James Lattis told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Monday.

Also known as a "fireball," Lattis said, these meteor sightings are "fairly common if one spends any amount of time watching the sky."

"There are bright ones somewhere in the world every day, but we tend only to notice the ones that occur at night, when the sky is clear, and the track is over populated areas," he said.

An observer in Sturgeon Bay thought the the fireball was a "misfired firework." Another in Eau Claire described it as looking similar to a streetlight. In Kenosha, a person believed it to be a "possible downed plane," according to IMO.

In Winneconne, a person described it as like nothing she had ever seen before with its changing colors. Observers described the fireball as a rainbow of colors, including green, orange, white, pink, blue, yellow, red and purple, according to IMO.

Facebook posts from those around the Fond du Lac area, too, described the fireball as blue and green in color.

One local post described smelling sulfur at the same time as the fireball, however, Lattis had never heard anyone associate a smell with a meteor, as the fireballs fly many miles above the Earth's surface.

More typical than smell is noise — known to happen occasionally with the passage of a fireball, Lattis said. One person in Michigan reported hearing a crackling sound with the fireball, according to IMO.

If the fireballs fly low enough "over a well-defined area," on occasion, people will find fragments of it, Lattis said. When it comes to Saturday's fireball, Lattis has yet to hear of any findings.

Contact Sarah Razner at 920-907-7909 or srazner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @misssarahrazner.