FUKUOKA, Japan, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- On the same night that at least two fireball events caught the attention of skywatchers in the United States, residents of western Japan spotted a bright green flash of light experts say was a burning chunk of asteroid intercepted by Earth's atmosphere.
Astronomers in Japan fielded a number of reports from witnesses claiming to have seen the fireball flash across the night sky.
"Since it was early evening and fine weather, favorable conditions were there for many to witness it," Hidehiko Agata, an associate professor at Japan's National Astronomical Observatory, told the Japan Times.
With the majority of reports fielded by observatories in Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures, the fireball likely crashed into the atmosphere above the southwestern portion of the island nation. A remote camera at Fukuoka airport caught the fireball as it flashed a green streak above the horizon.
Agata said the meteor was "highly likely" to be a bolide -- a meteor that burns bright enough to be witnessed across a wide area, and which usually features a bright terminal flash as it disappears from the night sky.
Another meteor lit up the skies above the Midwest and East Coast in the United States on Monday night, while a piece of space junk caught the attention of skywatchers in and around Chicago.
