A meteor about the size of a basketball or a small file cabinet entered the atmosphere over Colorado Springs on Tuesday night and burned itself up by the time it passed over Hotchkiss. The object was travelling at an estimated 76,000 mph when it entered the atmosphere about 70 to 80 miles above the Earth's surface at 7:29 p.m. It glowed nearly as bright as the moon for about 10 seconds before burning up.
"I am pleased to report that I just eye-witnessed a major fireball event out my window. This fireball was travelling east to west, possibly over central Colorado. It was long trailed, turquoise and green, and shed sparks ... It looks like this fireball may have been at least 300 miles north of my location."
The skies over Northwest Kansas Tuesday night were like a scene from a science fiction movie. A bright light sped across the sky, followed by a loud explosion. Osborne County Sheriff Curtis Miner tells KSAL News that it was not an unidentified flying object, or anything sinister. It was a large meteor.
At about 7:50 p.m. Tues., Valley law enforcement agencies received a report of strange lights, possibly a meteor, spotted traveling East to West in the vicinity of Hwys. 150 and 160 in the area of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
The telephones lit up in the at the news desk and in the 24/7 Weather Center at 7NEWS Tuesday evening as bright shooting star raced across the sky around 7:30 p.m.