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"Ball of Fire" reported over skies of Bakersfield

Possible meteor over the skies of Bakersfield
Posted at 9:51 PM, Jul 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-28 11:03:57-04

23ABC received lots of calls about a possible meteor that has been spotted over Bakersfield. Several viewers from as far away as Fresno have reported seeing the bright light, and what appeared to be a "ball of fire" 

The director of the Griffith Observatory, Dr. Ed Krupp, told ABC7 in Los Angeles that the Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower was set to peak Wednesday night. He also said it is possible it was the Perseid Meteor Shower which is supposed to peak in mid-August. 

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts tweeted that the fireball was debris from a Chinese rocket launched June 25. McDowell told the Los Angeles Times that the rocket reentered over Utah about 9:40 p.m. and was likely traveling about 18,000 mph.

Bakersfield Police say they have been flooded with calls on Wednesday evening.