Early morning meteor catches eyes of Kentuckians

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A bright meteor explosion early Wednesday morning captivated a number of people in southeastern Kentucky.

Several people reported spotting the "fireball" as it fell through the sky just after 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Others caught it on cameras outside their homes.

Shellbie Powers of Somerset caught the flash on camera.

"I had to replay it multiple times because I had no idea what it was," Powers said.

After showing it to friends at work, they jokingly theorized about what it was.

"They were like, 'Oh my gosh, is it an alien? Is it a spaceship? What's going on?'" she said.

Mark Pitts, associate professor of physics at Eastern Kentucky University, said the "fireball" was a larger-than-average meteor.

"They are able to get much lower in the atmosphere before they explode, and when they do, there's just a lot more material. So, you get a lot more violent explosion," Pitts explained.

The American Meteor Society reports more than 60 sightings, many of which were in Kentucky.

According to Pitts, seeing a meteor that large is rare.

"You just have to be at the right place at the right time to see it," he said. "And it just happens that southeast Kentucky was right where it needed to be."