People thought they saw a glowing red fireball streaked across Nova Scotia's night sky Thursday and they were likely right.

"It's probably a fireball. They're actually fairly common," Alan Strauss, with the Mt. Lemmon Sky Center in Arizona, said Friday.

Strauss said the glowing ball that appeared to travel from west to east over the Halifax area was a small meteorite, which is often described as a fireball.

Often people just don't look up that much and miss these celestial wonders, said Strauss in an interview from Tucson.

Many commentators on Nova Scotia blogs have been chatting up a storm about the stunning sight, describing a glowing ball as first green, then changing to a fuchsia-coloured streak travelling across the sky around 9:30 p.m.

Strauss said an asteroid was supposed to travel near the earth by sometime Friday, but it would not have been visible to the naked eye. Those with major telescopes would have had a glimpse, though, he said.

The meteorite would probably have been quite small, said Strauss, likely measuring in size between a golf ball and a watermelon.

But it's their trajectory that ultimately decides how visible they are, he said.

For example, a meteorite entering the atmosphere in a straight path would burn up faster, while one that enters on a shallow curve would be more easily seen.

Halifax Police said their 9-1-1 centre fielded some calls from curious residents, but it's still not clear what flew across the sky.

"We weren't able to determine what it is, but at this point there is no evidence to determine there was any public risk," police spokesman Const. Brian Palmeter said.