Fireball above Portland, Maine
© Portland PoliceFireball above Portland, Maine
A fireball that the American Meteor Society described as "huge" lit up the sky over the Northeast early Tuesday.

The society said it received videos and over 160 reports of the fireball, which was spotted around 1:50 a.m. Most reports were from Maine but some came from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as parts of Ontario and Quebec.
Fireball images cease to amaze me. Viewer Michael McCormack in Portsmouth caught this on his cam. pic.twitter.com/7uiiFnpmS3

— Michael Page (@MichaelPageWx) May 17, 2016
One of the videos of the fireball was captured by the dashcam of a Portland, Maine police cruiser.







In a Facebook post, the Portland Police Department said Sgt. Tim Farris and Officer Graham Hults were parked and on the lookout for speeding drivers when they saw the light show. Hults can be heard uttering, "oh my god."

The post jokingly said that the officers observed either a meteor or an alien spaceship.

A fireball is a term for a very bright meteor, the AMS said.
@Met_CindyFitz my security camera caught this in Salisbury Ma last night pic.twitter.com/ks6a9h2hdJ

— MedicCole (@mediccole) May 17, 2016