Fiery meteor lights up sky over Texas

(KXAN/KXAS/AP) - Georgene Crolley of Austin was driving home from church when she saw a spectacular sight in the sky. She had no idea what it was, but the light blazing across the sky was so bright, it was almost blinding.

"All of a sudden I saw this brilliant fireball in the sky, and this elongated silver thing in the sky," said Crolley. "I just kept thinking I was going to hear an explosion, and I kept looking back."

Crolley immediately called the KXAN newsroom, asking what that mysterious fireball actually was.

"I was kind of surprised at myself that I didn't call 911," said Crolley. "I just called the news channel."

The bright light was visible Sunday around 11 a.m. from Austin to Dallas and into East Texas. Astronomers are calling it a very large meteor, bright enough to light up the sky in daylight. The Federal Aviation Administration said it misspoke when issuing the warning to pilots that it was satellite debris. The Department of Defense said it was not satellite debris, but it was a natural phenomenon.

"I can quite firmly state that it was a natural occurrence, a very bright meteorite, because it was during the day, which is very extreme that you would be able to see it," said Torvald Hessel, Austin Planetarium Executive Director.

Adding to the strange event in the sky, several law enforcement agencies across Texas found debris in fields. The out-of-this-world occurrences had many speculating they were falling debris from two satellites that collided in space. However, Hessel is skeptical.

"The chance that two satellites that collided a couple of days ago on the other side of the earth and then three days later, it just happens to rain down over our heads is just too coincidental for me," said Hessel. "The pictures I saw were something of a pipe in a field. It doesn't look black. It doesn't burnt. I think it really is a pipe in a field."

Experts said the fireball that blazed across the Texas sky and sparked numerous calls to authorities was probably a meteor. Officials Monday announced the blaze was not falling space junk from last week's satellite collision. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration said the fireball appeared to be a natural phenomenon.

The object was visible Sunday morning from Austin to Dallas and into East Texas. Astronomer Preston Starr is observatory manager at the University of North Texas and said he believes the object was a carbonaceous meteor "about the size of a pickup truck." He said it was a "slow mover" and probably has the consistency of concrete.

Starr said objects as large as the one spotted Sunday enter the atmosphere about eight or 10 times a year. The U.S. government said there is no relation between the fireballs that streaked the Texas skies Sunday and the collision of two satellites over Siberia last week.

"There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry," said Maj. Regina Winchester, official spokesman for the U.S. Strategic Command, which includes the Air Force Space Command that monitors satellites.

Jim Orberg, space program expert and NBC contributor, explains officials at Strategic Command came to that conclusion by noting the orientation in space of the belt of debris formed from the remains of both satellites and that Texas was not passing through the belts of debris at the time of the sightings.

Numerous people across Texas reported seeing fireballs in the air Sunday morning. People in Richardson, Plano, Burleson and near Corsicana reported seeing the streaks in the skies. Kenneth and Jacqueline Terry said they saw fireballs in the sky as they were leaving church services at the Potter's House in Dallas.

"It was definitely five streaks of burning debris that lasted for about five seconds, and then it disappeared and then the white smoke stayed and it just started to go with the wind," said Kenneth Terry.

"It was really amazing," said Jacqueline Terry.

Air traffic controllers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport also received several reports from pilots of a streak of light in the sky. Some pilots said it looked like something re-entering the atmosphere, an air traffic source said. Controllers saw what looked like a vapor trail in the sky far to the south of the airport.

Though, the FAA notified pilots on Saturday to be aware of possible space debris from the collision, Laura Brown with the FAA said they mispoke when issuing the warning to pilots, suspecting the lights were pieces of two big communications satellites that collided in spaces Tuesday. Instead, they are now calling it a natural phenomenon.

Some Texas law enforcement agencies have found debris, but it was not immediately clear which agencies reported finding pieces. The FAA advises people who find pieces of debris should not touch them and should contact law enforcement. Local military officials will collect and analyze the debris to confirm what it is, and the debris field could stretch from New Mexico to Houston.

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