© The Jacksonville Observer
Meteor in sky.
"You should have seen it!" shouted a young boy in the crowd. Pointing to a large black stallion drinking from a trough, he added, "It was as big as that ther horse over ther'."
But, we don't need to rely on the word of a child to know that this "rock from another planet" was gigantic. There were dozens who saw it fall and thousands more that touched it.
In January, 1888, several Florida residents witnessed a "large green streak" falling through the sky. Known as a shooting star, the meteorite was visible throughout the entire southeast. Trying to project its final location and landing zone, each witness pointed to a field nearby where they were standing. Whether they lived in Key West, Miami, Palatka or Jacksonville, they would motion in a particular direction and then say, "Its got to be right over there."
It turns out that the monstrous meteorite (the envy of the world) fell to the earth in Middleburg, Florida. It was late in the evening when several passersby witnessed its arrival then heard a tremendous "thud." Every house in the town shook.
Comment: Interesting that at other times in other countries the national press trivialises sightings of fireballs in the sky by reassuring readers just how rare they are, but here the emphasis has flipped to place the sighting within the context of them happening "all the time!"
Nothing to see here folks, it's just another space rock (which we'll guesstimate was the size of a peanut to reinforce the notion that it was utterly insignificant) that turned night into day over yet another major population center!