OKLAHOMA CITY (February 2, 2012)—A bright, streaking light that some residents here and elsewhere in Texas and Oklahoma saw streaking through the sky Wednesday night was likely a meteor, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Little River-Academy Police Chief Troy Hess recorded the meteor on the dash camera of his patrol car during a traffic stop.
FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said that the agency received reports from people who saw the object at around 8 p.m. as far north as Oklahoma City and as far south as Houston.
Lunsford said FAA officials knew it wasn't an airplane people were seeing, and a meteor was the likely candidate.
Many people reported the meteor as blue or green, with a long tail.
Some said it was visible for just a short time, while others reported following it for 10 seconds or longer.
Many described the meteor as beautiful.
The meteor sighting coincided with the ninth anniversary of the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart early in the morning as it flew over Texas and Louisiana en route to a landing in Florida.
