- A fireball lit up Utah's sky at 4:50 a.m. Thursday.
- Dozens have reported the sight to the American Meteor Society, but the agency hasn't confirmed it as a meteor yet.
- It's also still unclear whether any pieces ever reached the ground.
SALT LAKE CITY — The night sky above Utah was bright as day for just a moment early Thursday as a suspected meteor burned its way into the atmosphere.
Space experts said the flash of light was most likely a meteor burning up as it slammed into Earth's atmosphere, creating what's known as a fireball.
Multiple reports confirm the fireball lit up the sky at 4:50 a.m. across Utah and neighboring states. Dozens have reported the sight to the American Meteor Society, but the agency hasn't confirmed it as a meteor yet.
"Yeah, it was amazing. I will say this — it was absolutely amazing," Herb Patterson, who was driving through Spanish Fork at the time, said.
Patterson described the moment as intense and unexpected.
"I just see a light that's really dim that started getting brighter, brighter (and) brighter. And I'm thinking to myself, 'What is that?' And it was kind of eerie at first," he said. "And then just the whole sky and all the roads and everything around me lit up for like a fraction of a second. And then it was gone."
Video captured in Tooele County shows the bright flash cutting across the sky, matching reports from drivers and early risers throughout the region.
It's also still unclear whether any pieces ever reached the ground.
According to Jason Trump, education program manager at Clark Planetarium and NASA Solar System ambassador, recovery depends largely on where fragments may have landed.
"If it landed in an area that has a lot of rock, say, in one of the canyons of Utah, well, it's going to be very difficult to find," Trump said. "If it landed somewhere like the Salt Flats, it could be recovered — like there was a few years ago."
The timing of the fireball isn't unusual. February through April is what NASA refers to as "fireball season," when there are increased reports of fireballs in the daytime and night time skies.
Utah is also in the midst of two meteor showers: the Lyrid and Eta Aquarids, but experts said this fireball was something different.
"Something like this would have been a big chunk of rock that did not come off of a comet," Trump explained. "Most likely, it came from somewhere in the asteroid belt."
Trump added that this week's fireball is timed nicely with the recent return of the astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission. He said they experienced a similar fiery descent as they reentered the atmosphere. Scientists study meteors like today's fireball to better understand how to protect astronauts during high-speed returns to Earth.
"Those astronauts in that capsule reentered the atmosphere going very, very fast, thousands of miles per hour. And their capsule heated up just like this natural object heated up," he said. "So I like to make the connection that what we even know about the heat shields and why we need to have the heat shields is because of meteorites."
For those hoping to spot more cosmic events this week, Trump recommended heading away from city lights, giving your eyes time to adjust, and then lying back and watching the show. He recommended aiming your view to the southern skies, if possible. And, he said you're always welcome to see real asteroids that have landed on Earth at the Clark Planetarium.
Patterson said the experience was one he won't forget.
"I've always wanted to see a meteor and never have," he said. "I've seen some really cool things, but that actually was one of the coolest things I've seen."
