INWOOD — A few lucky park goers, hobby astronomers and observant passersby caught a glimpse of a bright streak of light across Friday's night sky, which, according to a NASA expert, was most likely a meteor that shot across the East Coast.
While Inwood and other nearby residents reported seeing the bright, silent light, around 8 p.m., many of the most widely spread reports were images claiming to feature a photo of the New York City meteor, shared on Facebook and Twitter, that turned out to be bogus.
Reports of the event first came in, however, on Twitter and through the American Meteor Society, which received upwards of 350 reports through its website, according to the Associated Press.
NASA scientist Bill Cooke, of the Meteoroid Environmental Office, called it a "single meteor event" in the AP report.
"The thing is probably a yard across," Cooke added. "We basically have (had) a boulder enter the atmosphere over the northeast."
He said that given the visibility, it was "as bright as the full moon."
Among the few Twitter users in the city who reported seeing the streak, it sounded like a unique sight to behold.
"Saw a meteorite burn up in the atmosphere on the New York/New Jersey line. It was below cloud level #amazing" wrote Sean Leary, under the handle @seannwl, Mashable noted.
Another tweet posted by Terry Hill @auzzie22314, asked who else had seen the sky light up: "Did anyone see the exploding "meteor" looking north towards New York at about 7:50pm this evening? What a sight!" he posted.
