On the heels of a close fly-by of an asteroid 17,000 miles from Earth earlier Friday, and a devastating meteor that exploded and landed in Russia, Northern California stargazers caught a glimpse of yet another meteor tonight.
Social media users reported spotting it about 7:45 p.m., and sightings were reported from the Bay Area to the Central Valley, including cities such as Elk Grove, Sacramento and Roseville.
KCRA 3 received calls and emails, as well.
Considering recent events, people seem to be paying closer attention to what's happening in the skies.
But the meteor over Northern California appears to be much smaller than the one that hit Russia -- and, this didn't actually land, chief meteorologist Mark Finan said, stressing that's the important distinction.
Based on reports, an astronomer with the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland said it seems this was a "sporadic meteor."
Those can happen several times a day, but most of the time over the ocean, away from human eyes. They bring as much as 15,000 tons of space debris to Earth each year.
Meteors, hunks of rock and metal from space that fall to Earth, burn up as they go through Earth's atmosphere, which is what apparently caused tonight's bright flash of light, astronomer Gerald McKeegan said.