Residents of southeast Michigan as well as a number of nearby states were treated to a somewhat unsettling show last night when a meteor lit up the sky and produced a sizeable rumble.
Believed to have been around six feet in diameter, the fireball created by the meteor burning up was reportedly so bright that people in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even Ontario, Canada could see the event.
Those who did not spot the meteor as it fell to the Earth most likely felt it as its arrival actually spawned a 2.0 magnitude earthquake!
In light of the heightened tension surrounding possible missile attacks on the United States, the meteor conjured considerable concern from worried residents who flooded police stations with phone calls.
Law enforcement officials, themselves, were not immune to such worries as one police chief told the CBS affiliate in Detroit that he thought it was "the beginning of the end."
Fortunately that turned out not to be the case and, thanks to the proliferation of cameras combined with the object's slow trajectory, several witnesses were able to capture some amazing videos of the meteor's journey.
And a few folks in the area might even find a memento from the event in their backyard since the meteor breaking up produced a shower of meteorites that rained down onto a region of the state.
Source: Detroit Free Press