Cindy Sherman considers herself a rational person.

That's why she didn't assume that what she saw in the sky Sunday night was a UFO. But she saw something unusual, that much she knows.

The Elyria resident said she was traveling north on Route 57 in Grafton she saw something that was bright white streaking across the sky faster than any plane. The bright white orb then turned dark, and it was trailed by a tail of orange, red and yellow flames.

And then, poof, it was gone, Sherman said.

As it turns out, Sherman wasn't the only one peering skyward Sunday night.

The observatory at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History took reports from several people who saw what Sherman saw. People as far away as Toronto reported seeing it, said Clyde Simpson, the museum's observatory coordinator.

And just what was it? Most likely, a flaming meteor or a chunk of a comet, Simpson said.

He urged anyone who saw it to fill out a form at the American Meteor Society HERE.

Sherman said she called the Grafton police to report what she saw. "At first, I thought something blew up," she said.

John Guzik of Avon Lake also saw a glowing light streak across the sky while relaxing in his hot tub with his wife Melissa and 7-year-old son, Noah.

"It was huge - the biggest thing I've ever seen in the sky," Guzik said.

He didn't see the colors described by Sherman but said, the bright light "could have had a tint of gold."

Guzik, an account executive for WDOK 102.1-FM, said a number of callers to the station's morning show also described seeing the white orb.

Several callers to the National Weather Service office at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport also reported seeing a meteor, according to meteorologist Bill Randal.

Sherman said her husband teased her a bit about what she told him what she'd seen - especially since they just returned from a long road trip - but she stuck to her guns.

"I've had floaters in my eyes before but not with flames coming from them," she said with a laugh.