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'Fireball' Streaks Across Bay Area Night Sky

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Nov 7, 2009 9:55 pm US/Pacific

'Fireball' Streaks Across Bay Area Night Sky

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: A view of the streaking fireball at sunset over Half Moon Bay.
Pepper Dela Cruz

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A bright flash was seen all over the Bay Area Saturday night, perhaps a fiery precursor to an upcoming meteor shower.

Witnesses from Monterey to the south and as far north as San Rafael reported seeing a bright ball of fire followed by a squiggly trail of smoke around 5:10 p.m. Saturday.

Bing Quock with the Morrison Planetarium in Golden Gate Park said that although he didn't see the object, the Leonid Meteor Shower is expected to peak around November 17 and it's not uncommon to see fireballs around the time of such an event.

Quock said that based on witnesses' descriptions, the object was likely between the size of a baseball or soccer ball and may have disintegrated before it hit the earth.

He explained that most meteorites we see are about the size of a grain of sand, which could explain why this one was so visible in the evening sky.

One witness from the East Bay said she was traveling on Dublin Boulevard between Dublin and Pleasanton when she saw the fireball disintegrate about two stories above the earth.