Texas fireball likely a bright meteor

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- An astronomer says a fireball seen in the sky over much of Texas and Oklahoma likely was a burning meteor and not a UFO or debris from a satellite collision.

The object seen Sunday morning likely was a "classic bolide" -- an extremely luminous meteor, said Ron DiLulio, director of astronomy at the University of North Texas.

"These are very, very bright meteors that can be seen during the day," said DiLulio, a member of the Solar System Ambassadors Program, which gives him access to NASA data.

DiLulio said he checked the trajectories of two satellites that collided last week over Siberia and concluded the debris did not come from them, The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Tuesday.

Last week's U.S.-Russian satellite collision sent thousands of pieces of debris toward Earth, most of which burned up in the atmosphere. Other pieces could remain in space for thousands of years, the Star-Telegram reported.