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Washington - Did you see a flash in the sky tonight?

Multiple reports came into the WTOP newsroom Monday night about a fireball in the area. One listener traveling eastbound on Interstate 66 toward the Route 7 exit said they saw one headed northbound.

Fox 5's Greg Redfern and WTOP's space expert said he and another person saw a bright fireball to the northeast around 8:25 p.m. Redfern says the fireball appeared white to him while another said it was red.

It was moving downward and was "bright as tonight's moon" said Redfern. While he says his view was partially blocked by trees, he says it was a good one.

So far there have been more than 30 reports of fireball sightings to the American Meteor Society, seen as far north as New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and other northeastern areas.

On Saturday, October 5, 2013, at around 6:30 PM, a huge firewall struck over Venezuela and Colombia scaring inhabitants from San Cristobal, Tachira and Cucuta in Colombia. It was probably a draconid meteor or fireball. The yellow incandescent material had a long white tail during its fall.
Here some pictures of the sightings collected from the web.

The events around the world have been unprecedented over the last few weeks. Some of the most dramatic and unbelievable footage I've ever seen from events that took place in the past week or so. Please use these videos for awareness to these ongoing extremes that seem to be getting worse each week. Prepare for disasters in your area! You're no different than others that are already dealing with them and most were not ready...

In just a couple of weeks we saw a devastating typhoon hit Japan and China, a 'one-in-one-thousand-years' flood hit Colorado, record rainfall in Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, Brazil, and India, fireballs turning night into day over Canada and the US, a powerful tornado in Sao Paulo, a 7.7 earthquake in Pakistan that formed a new island in the ocean, followed just 4 days later by 7.2 in the same region, a 7.0 earthquake in Peru, a daytime fireball in Alabama...these are just some of the highlights from the last week of another crazy month on planet Earth!

Thanks for watching here and stay safe!

Meteorite crashed in a small village in Brazil:

A suspected meteorite crashed in town Rubber, Vicenza district, North Forest in Pernambuco, and is worrying farmers in the region. The object had fallen from the sky on the evening of last Monday (23).Although seem unlikely, since Wednesday (25), and until the 25th of November, happens a meteor shower, known as Oriônidas in space. The phenomenon occurs when the Earth crosses the orbit of Halley's Comet, taken as the origin of rock fragment. Rain records a typical rate 20-25 meteors per hour - which can be seen on a dark night and clear skies. Inside, the resident who found the material not resist and kept the "burnt stone" of 1.2 pound home. The information was confirmed late on Thursday (26) by the Mayor of Vicenza, Paulo Tadeu. ...more
http://www.diariodepernambuco.com.br/app/noticia/vida-urbana/2013/09/26/interna_vidaurbana,464618/suposto-meteorito-cai-em-povoado-de-vicencia.shtml

Comet ISON is getting closer to making its close pass by the sun, but what would happen if it had a brush with our planet instead? New evidence shows it would be devastating.

International scientists have discovered the first ever evidence of a comet entering Earth's atmosphere and exploding. This celestial object rained down fire across the Earth, obliterating every life form in its path.

The team's discovery provides the first definitive proof of a comet striking Earth millions of years ago. It also helps to give scientists a peak into how comets help shape the solar system.

"Comets always visit our skies - they're these dirty snowballs of ice mixed with dust - but never before in history has material from a comet ever been found on Earth," Professor David Block, of Wits University, said in a statement.

More reports of meteor sightings on Friday night are coming in from Indiana. Nearly 700 people across six states already reported sightings of meteors Friday morning.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) said witnesses from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin reported a bright light moving across the morning sky.

An estimated trajectory computed from the witness reports shows the meteor was traveling from the west to east and ended somewhere over eastern Indiana.

For two days now, villagers and authorities in the west coast of Zamboanga remain baffled after a big ball of fire streaked from the southern skies at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, hitting the coastal water before exploding and illuminating nearby villages.

Senior Inspector Edilberto Alvarez, the police commander of Station 9, confirmed the mysterious phenomenon but could neither offer a clear explanation of the incident at Barangays La Paz and Talisayan.

Alvarez said a dull but loud explosion occurred later at the sea water fronting Barangay Talisayan.

"It was confusing because based on my own experience an improvised bomb if exploded would not create such bright and colorful light covering a massive area compared to that one... whatever it was," Alverez said.

The police official also dismissed the possibility that the ball of fire that exploded was man-made.

If it were not scientifically verified, it would be a great storyline for a sci-fi flick, but NASA says alien microbes are hitching rides on meteorites. Some experts are stating that debris from outer space will only be increasing in frequency as they impact Earth in the coming year.

A meteorite's size can range from small to extremely large. When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere, frictional, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting/falling star. They can range from extraterrestrial bodies that collide with Earth or an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.

NASA has launched a new website to share details of meteor explosion events as recorded by U.S. military sensors on secretive spacecraft, kicking off the project with new details of this past February's fireball over Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The new "Fireball and Bolide Reports" website, overseen by NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, debuted Friday (March 1) with its first entry: a table with a chronological data summary of the Russian meteor explosion of Feb. 15 gleaned from U.S. Government sensor data. Scientists are calling the event a "superbolide," taken from the term "bolide" typically used for fireballs created by meteors.

Part of the worldwide interest in meteors hitting Earth stems from what is now verifiable evidence that alien lifeforms are coming along for the ride.

In 2010, Duane P. Snyder announced the discovery of the first and only known Ice Meteorite containing Extraterrestrial Life-forms. The Ice Meteorite's particle analysis, its gas analysis, and likely origin including photos of the life-forms found in the melt-water of the meteorite where also exhibited. Dr. Albert Schnieders of Tascon USA Inc, commented that they basically found nearly all elements up to 90u in the sample spherical particles tested.

As a SOTT editor, I like to keep an eye on what's going on in the animal kingdom. The big news in recent years on that score has, of course, been the high number of mass animal deaths. But has anyone else noticed the extraordinary number of stories about snakes in the news lately? I first noticed a spate of snake stories at the beginning of the summer, and over the last couple of months snakes have been turning up in close proximity to people, and in some highly unusual settings, at an alarming rate. There have also been some particularly horrifying reports of attacks and resulting fatalities by escaped pet pythons - on both children and domesticated animals alike.

It seems appropriate that 2013, according to the Chinese zodiac tradition, is the Year of the Snake!

The following is a quick run-down of some incidents worth highlighting, starting in May, which initially show a slow build-up of such stories, leading fairly rapidly to 'spikes' in reports, some of which we've carried on SOTT.