Blazing fireball in sky was meteor, expert confirms

National Weather Service meteorologists confirmed that an orange fireball that shot through the Saturday night sky was a meteor.

The meteor, which also reportedly was seen in El Paso and across much of the southwestern United States, did not make it to the surface, said Marvin Percha, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's office in Phoenix.

"Usually, they burn up 50, 100 miles above the surface way up in the atmosphere," he said Sunday. "It doesn't matter where in the world it is, when these hit the earth's atmosphere they usually burn up rather quickly."

Officials were searching areas near Globe and Superior after agencies received calls Saturday night about an orange fireball that shot through the air and crashed to the ground.

Officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety said the agencies had been getting numerous calls from people reporting they'd seen a glowing ball streak across the sky.

DPS said they were checking the areas near State Route 87, Anthem and the Four Peaks.

A spokeswoman with the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said they had received reports of a fiery object being spotted east of the Superstition Mountains.

James, Sawtell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said meteors, commonly referred to as shooting stars, "can appear different colors and often appear bright and fiery. Sometimes they can appear very near when in reality they are hundreds of miles away."

Meteors are the "light phenomena which results when a meteoroid enters the earth's atmosphere and vaporizes," according to NASA.

Percha said meteors are fairly common, and typically look like the size of peanuts or pebbles.