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When Sgt. Michael Virga went out on patrol last weekend in Hamilton, New Jersey, he wasn't expecting to see something truly out-of-this-world. But thanks to a spectacular fireball, that's exactly what the officer saw.
The fireball streaked across the early-morning sky at 3:09 a.m. EST (0809 GMT) on Saturday, Dec. 2, and Virga's vehicle dash cam recorded the dazzling sight, according to a statement from the Township of Hamilton Police Department.
A dazzling fireball streaks across the sky in this still from the dash-cam video of Sgt. Michael Virga, of the Township of Hamilton Police Department in New Jersey, on Dec. 2, 2017.
(Image credit: Township of Hamilton Police Department)
The fireball was a bolide, a meteor that explodes in a brilliant flash as it plunges through Earth's atmosphere.
In a Twitter statement, the American Meteor Society said it received 133 separate reports from spectators who witnessed the fireball across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Sightings were also reported from 10 other states (New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Massachusetts) and Washington, D.C., the AMS reported.
Tariq is the editor-in-chief of Live Science's sister site Space.com. He joined the team in 2001 as a staff writer, and later editor, focusing on human spaceflight, exploration and space science. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times, covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University.
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