Paul Smith was nodding off in his vehicle at 2 a.m. on March 19 while watching and taking photos of the aurora borealis when he awoke to a bright light.
The 39-year-old thought he was dreaming — but he was able to grab his camera and point it in the right direction.
"I was kind of tired, so what surprised me was that I had the wherewithal to kind of think to turn it on," Smith said Friday.
What he captured on video at his spot near Anzac, Alta. was what Smith thinks was a meteor.
"
The biggest, brightest thing I've ever seen," he said.
In the video, the fireball can be seen moving through the sky, bright green in colour, before flashing bright white and orange in succession before flaming out.
Smith said he could hear a bang while it flamed out.
Comment: Whew! That was a close one! Is this a 'shot across the bow' from Mother Nature? Perhaps next time, or in the future, we won't be so lucky. Here's a few recent near misses: