Friday, Apr 26, 2024 | Last Update : 08:15 AM IST

  Science   08 Dec 2017  Police Dashcam catches meteor streaking through the sky

Police Dashcam catches meteor streaking through the sky

AP
Published : Dec 8, 2017, 8:28 am IST
Updated : Dec 8, 2017, 8:28 am IST

The American Meteor Society confirms that the fireball was indeed a meteor. The society says it received multiple reports about it.

Between 3.7 and 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth was being bombarded by meteors, at a rate about eight to 11 times higher than today.Representational Photo: Pixabay
 Between 3.7 and 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth was being bombarded by meteors, at a rate about eight to 11 times higher than today.Representational Photo: Pixabay

A New Jersey police sergeant inadvertently captured footage of a large meteor streaking across the sky.

Hamilton Township police Sgt. Michael Virga tells NJ.com he was on patrol early Sunday when his vehicle dashcam captured footage of a fireball just after 3 a.m.

He says the fireball took him by surprise and "lit up the entire sky like a lime green streak." He wasn't sure he captured it until he checked the dashcam later.

The American Meteor Society confirms that the fireball was indeed a meteor. The society says it received multiple reports about it.

It was a bolide, which is a very large, very bright meteor that explodes in the atmosphere.

Just over a week earlier, almost 70 people reported seeing a fireball passing over the mid-Atlantic.

Tags: meteor, us, police, dashcam