A meteor made a surprise appearance in the sky early Friday morning,Grant Preston burning brightly as it traveled across two neighboring states before dissipating.
Glenn Sparks, a driver headed east on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, documented the moment on Facebook, writing that he had just witnessed the "most amazing meteor of my life" at around 1 a.m. on Friday.
The shooting star, according to Sparks, looked like it was roughly over Greeneville, about 65 miles east of Knoxville, when he spotted it.
"It lit up the sky for over 10 seconds with multiple explosions along the way," Sparks wrote. "Absolutely gorgeous!"
Southwest Virginia residents also caught sight of the fleeting ball of fire, capturing the meteor, also known as a shooting star, on video as it whizzed by in a matter of seconds.
Sparks' awe was audible in the video clip that he took, saying "What?" and erupting into laughter.
While Sparks may have been in awe, meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere regularly, with NASA estimating that that "several meteors per hour" can usually be seen on any given night.
"Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day," according to NASA. "Almost all the material is vaporized in Earth's atmosphere, leaving a bright trail fondly called 'shooting stars.'"
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