VIDEO: Bright green fireball streaks across PNW, stuns witnesses

A mysterious green fireball flew across the sky in southern Washington over the weekend, with hundreds of people witnessing and commenting on the strange phenomenon.

People spotted the green fireball throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Alberta, Canada.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” a witness from Jackson, Wyoming commented on an American Meteor Society post, obtained by The Seattle Times. “It was like a firework falling down from the sky!”

Some initially believed it was a falling aircraft due to its size.

“I’ve seen shooting stars before, but nothing like this. The intensity of the brightness was so much stronger,” another person from Jackson commented. “It’s a clear night with perfect air quality.”

Experts believe it was likely a meteor, but its vivid color and intensity have sparked curiosity. Some experts believe it could have been part of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower. The Eta Aquarids meteor shower is active from April 20 to May 21, but peaks in early May each year, according to NASA.

“I thought I was witnessing end times,” one observer driving through Wyoming’s Wind River mountains told The Debrief. “It was amazing to see the colors of it, and the actual fire-like look of the tail burning up!”

But what about the color?

As for the green hue? The color of a meteor depends on its chemical composition, and some experts believe it could be caused by nickel.

Nickel is “a very common metal to find in objects that are natural from space,” Jason Trump, NASA solar system ambassador, said, according to The Seattle Times.

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