Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Ahead of the Geminid meteor shower expected this weekend, Arizona residents were treated to a preview of sorts when a bright ball of light whizzed through the sky on Tuesday evening.
Some even reported hearing a loud boom as it exploded.
"My wife and I and my son were sitting in the house, and we felt this absolutely tremendous explosion, I mean, it shook the windows, it shook everything in the house," KGUN viewer Tony Kubrak said. "I stepped outside, and had to be no more than three minutes later after I hear all of this, and I see this tremendous, white, bright light in the western sky. And it was just...it was absolutely enormous, I couldn't believe it."
But the lone meteor wasn't part of the upcoming Geminid shower, which doesn't start until Thursday.
Arizona meteorologist Amber Sullins attributed the unusual event to a "rare outburst of Andromedids," meteor fragments from Biela's comet.
#Meteor mania! Who saw it? Rare outburst of #Andromedids the last couple of nights. #Geminids don't peak until later this week. #abc15wx
Advertisement— Amber Sullins (@AmberSullins) December 11, 2013
