The American Meteor Society says it received nearly 60 reports of a meteor Friday crossing the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada.
In Central New York, the meteor prompted reports of a fireball over Oneida Lake.
"A fireball is a meteor that is larger than normal," Robert Lunsford writes at the American Meteor Society website. "Most meteors are only the size of small pebbles. A meteor the size of a softball can produce light equivalent to the full moon for a short instant."
"Fireballs occur every day over all parts of the Earth," Lunsford wrote. "It is rare though for an individual to see more than one or two per lifetime as they also occur during the day, on a cloudy night, or over a remote area where no one sees it."
The reports of a fireball over Oneida Lake caused rescuers to scramble, fearing a boat or plane was in trouble.
The Oswego County 911 Center said that because no one knew what the fireball was, every fire department on the lake was notified. The Onondaga County sheriff's Air One helicopter also was sent over the lake for about an hour, 911 reported.
Air One was in contact with the tower at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, which did not have any reports of planes in trouble, 911 said. None of the fire departments found any evidence of an explosion.
Brightness estimates of this fireball vary considerably, but the average were near a magnitude -11, which is slightly less than the light produced by the full moon, the society reported. Every color of the rainbow was reported with green and blue being the most predominant, the society reported.
Lunsford said in the past he has received reports that the object landed just over the hill when in fact it was several hundred miles away and was witnessed over several states.
Very few meteors actually reach the ground as 99.99% completely disintegrate while still 10 to 20 miles up in the atmosphere, he said.