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NASA Confirms The ‘Extremely Unusual Fireball’ That Lit Up Skies This Weekend

NASA
A fireball over the city of Groningen in 2009. North Texans spotted something similar in the skies over the weekend.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: If you saw a strange green light in the sky Saturday night, it wasn’t your imagination; the Cowboys end a losing spell and hit the streets of London; a Duncanville high school teacher fires off a profane tweet and more.

Folks across Texas may have seen a green light in the night sky Saturday. WFAA reports that the sighting was around 8:45 p.m. The American Meteor Society says it received over 200 reports about the fireball.

NASA later confirmed it in a press conference yesterday. The bright green light was indeed a fireball, which is a meteor brighter than the planet Venus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjgoWyd3L9I

"This was definitely what we call a fireball, which by definition is a meteor brighter than the planet Venus," Dr. Bill Cooke, head of NASA's meteoroid environment office, told a news conference Sunday. "This event was so bright that it was picked up on a NASA meteor camera in the mountains of New Mexico over 500 miles away, which makes it extremely unusual.”

NASA is investigating where the meteor came from. Cooke said it may be fallout from the North Taurid meteor shower.

  • The Dallas Cowboys ended their two-game losing spell in yesterday’s game against the Jaguars. The highly-publicized London trip ended with a 31-17 victory over the Jaguars, but media seemed to be more interested in the team’s supposed ‘curfew.’ The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the team hit the town late Friday night, breaking the imposed team curfew. But no one was harmed in the Friday festivities, receiver Dez Bryant said. There was also one ‘bed check’ during the trip. “Anything else you heard…we had one bed check and everybody was fine,” Coach Jason Garrett said.

  • The Duncanville School district is apologizing for a high school teacher’s “reprehensible” tweet. The Dallas Morning News reports Duncanville High English teacher Vinita Hegwood sent out a profanity-filled tweet concerning Ferguson on Friday night. The district issued a statement and promised “swift action,” but there’s no word yet on the specifics.

  • StoryCorps will park its MobileBooth at the AT&T Performing Arts Center soon to begin a month-long mission of recording the stories of everyday Americans. The oral history project began in 2003 and millions tune in every Friday on NPR’s Morning Edition. Today on ‘Think,’ Krys Boyd will talk to StoryCorps founder Dave Isay about the project’s beginnings and what makes a compelling personal story. Tune in at noon on 90.1 FM or stream online. Find out how you can share your story with StoryCorps.

  • The Dallas Architecture Forum will present Lee Mindel, a leading interior architect and designer. He’ll be speaking tonight at 7 p.m. at in the Horchow Auditorium of the Dallas Museum of Art. Tickets can be purchased at the door: $20 for general admission and $5 for students. Swing by early for a complimentary reception at 6:15. 
Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.