Meteor Shower Suspected as Fireballs Are Seen

Sky-watchers from Los Angeles to Inyo County reported a brightly colored fireball shower Saturday night, and authorities here said a San Diego man driving on California 395 claimed that something shattered a window of his car just after he saw the lights streak across the sky.

The reports came amid other sightings in Inyo and Mono counties of what may have been a meteor swarm. A guide at Griffith Observatory said they received three calls from Southland residents reporting the lights.

Inyo County Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Geiger said that other motorists driving behind Gregory Hood, 26, of San Diego said they saw a bright flash around his car.

Geiger said that after inspecting Hood’s car he could find no explanation for the breakage. He ruled out firearms. He added that there were no burns, scratches or other marks on the car, and said no object or projectile was found in the vehicle.

Hood was driving north about 10 p.m. Saturday when he and passenger Tracy Brock saw the cascade of lights, Geiger said. A few minutes later, he heard a loud explosion that shattered his right rear window.

Kirk Palmer, a telescope operator at Griffith Observatory, said descriptions made the fireballs sound like a “sporadic event.” The most recent regularly plotted meteor shower, the Quadrantid, peaked earlier this month, he said. But in the Lone Pine area several years ago, he said, another motorist reported seeing a meteorite strike the ground, although a search could not find it.

“It’s not rare to see them,” Palmer said, “but it’s very rare to hear of something being struck.”

One of those who also reported seeing the colored lights was Geiger’s wife, Kim, who was driving on the same highway south of Lone Pine at about the same time.

“It started off like a falling star,” she said. “It was bright orange, then it was red, then just before it burned out, it turned blue. It looked like it landed on the freeway.”