Blue Fireball, Probably Meteor, Lights Area Sky

A burning light streaked west across Southern California skies shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday, turning heads from San Juan Capistrano to Pasadena.

The bright blue ball was likely part of a meteor shower along California’s coast, according to the state’s Office of Emergency Services.

Calls poured into police stations, reporting everything from fireworks to a secret launch from Vandenburg Air Force Base in Lompoc.

“We’ve had reports from bottle rockets to meteorites,” said Lt. Steve Foster of the California Highway Patrol.

“It was huge, huge,” said Gary Gibson, who saw the fireball from his Brea home. “It looked like a huge vehicle in the sky. It was hard to tell if it was three miles away or 100.”

Orange County amateur astronomer Jeff Sloan said this time of year is active for a meteor shower known as the Quadrantid, typically visible the first five days of January. Sloan said the color of the meteor would make it rarer than most.

“They can be so bright, almost as bright as a full moon,” he said.