Residents of the Tuscarawas Valley who heard a deafening boom about 12:40 a.m. Monday and stepped outside likely saw what one person described as "a marvelous fireball with red streaks in the sky."

Bob Reed, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said it probably was a meteor falling through the atmosphere.

"We did receive one call from (Sky Warn) people who were basically wondering what was causing it," he said. "A meteor is the best explanation we can come up with at this point."

Sky Warn participants help identify unusual weather patterns and spot storms in their communities, reporting them to the National Weather Service.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff Lt. Lon McEnroe said a number of calls were fielded by area law enforcement agencies about 12:45 a.m.

"They told us Stark and Wayne counties all had reports of it, too," he said.

Dispatchers from the county's 911 center contacted Air Traffic Command in Washington, D.C., to inquire about the event. The command confirmed that Cleveland's control center was checking into a meteor shower that occurred within its air space.

McEnroe said individual calls ranged from "Did we just get bombed?" to "It might be a space shuttle."

Numerous callers reported the large red fireball. Several said their homes shook.

New Philadelphia police said they received reports from several callers on N. Broadway, Miller Ave. NW and Wabash Ave. NW, who witnessed the fireball or heard the boom. An E. High Ave. woman described it as "a blue light that lit up the sky and went down."

Police in Dover said multiple callers reported they heard a loud bang and something rattled their windows. Officers checked all over the city and could not find the source of the noise but noted there were no power outages anywhere.