SACRAMENTO -
Emergency calls to 9-1-1 and to FOX40 news Saturday night because of what flew across the sky and appeared to hit the ground causing so many to think it was a plane crashing to the ground. It was pretty scary for people who described what looked like a fireball falling from the sky. It was all actually part of a yearly event called the Leonid meteor shower.
Still, 911 dispatchers were flooded with calls with people reporting everything from what looked like a plane crashing to a UFO landing. It was nothing that dramatic, just small pieces of debris from a passing comet. Amateur Astronomer Walter Heiges explained to FOX40 that "As we go through our orbit we go through that debris and those pieces of debris come through our atmosphere and they burn up and you see streaks of light."
But to people watching, it was unexplainable. One man called 911 to report the mysterious light and told dispatchers "everyone on the freeway is slamming on their brakes."
All across Sacramento County people reported seeing the fireballs. We met one family whose kids were playing outside when they saw the meteors, it was like nothing they'd ever seen before and a little scary. One little girl said "I thought it was a UFO or meteor maybe both, and I got kind of nervous like it would hit the earth." But once we explained what was happening, the kids were excited to watch it again.
If you missed the show, you still have a chance to see more meteors, but you might have to make a trip out of town. Heiges suggests that you "Get somewhere very high in the sky or somewhere very far away from the city lights and kick back."
The Leonid meteor shower usually happens November 17th & 18th. About the very same time, last November at the peak of the evening commute a lot of people saw a similar huge ball of light barreling through the sky, turning blue and green and it appeared to hit the ground. Commuters all flooded 911 with calls most of them in the twin cities, Highway 99 area and most, convinced they saw an airliner go down. It wasn't until the next day that officials confirmed, the event that stirred up so much excitement and so much concern came from space and was a natural event.
Still, 911 dispatchers were flooded with calls with people reporting everything from what looked like a plane crashing to a UFO landing. It was nothing that dramatic, just small pieces of debris from a passing comet. Amateur Astronomer Walter Heiges explained to FOX40 that "As we go through our orbit we go through that debris and those pieces of debris come through our atmosphere and they burn up and you see streaks of light."
But to people watching, it was unexplainable. One man called 911 to report the mysterious light and told dispatchers "everyone on the freeway is slamming on their brakes."
All across Sacramento County people reported seeing the fireballs. We met one family whose kids were playing outside when they saw the meteors, it was like nothing they'd ever seen before and a little scary. One little girl said "I thought it was a UFO or meteor maybe both, and I got kind of nervous like it would hit the earth." But once we explained what was happening, the kids were excited to watch it again.
If you missed the show, you still have a chance to see more meteors, but you might have to make a trip out of town. Heiges suggests that you "Get somewhere very high in the sky or somewhere very far away from the city lights and kick back."
The Leonid meteor shower usually happens November 17th & 18th. About the very same time, last November at the peak of the evening commute a lot of people saw a similar huge ball of light barreling through the sky, turning blue and green and it appeared to hit the ground. Commuters all flooded 911 with calls most of them in the twin cities, Highway 99 area and most, convinced they saw an airliner go down. It wasn't until the next day that officials confirmed, the event that stirred up so much excitement and so much concern came from space and was a natural event.
