Dec. 23--There were numerous reports Tuesday evening of a bright light streaking across the skies in parts of California and Nevada, prompting all sorts of speculation about what it might be.
People posted videos and photos of the light on social media, with some saying it lasted 10 to 20 seconds.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it had not gotten any reports of the lights. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration could not immediately be reached for comment.
Some, such as Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, said it was probably a meteor. Fireball events occur almost nightly somewhere on Earth, he said, but are not usually seen over populated areas.
"Fireballs occur when small -- basketball-sized or Volkswagen-sized -- asteroids enter the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate from the atmospheric friction," Yeomans said in an email.
A U.S. Strategic Command representative, however, told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that the fireball was a Russian rocket body.
ALSO
California snowpack exceeds average for first time in years
Winter storm could plague holiday travelers
Lyft can pick you up at LAX starting Wednesday
