Video shows fireball lighting up the Southern California sky

A fireball was spotted last week blazing across the Southern California sky, according to the American Meteor Society.

The scientific organization recorded 18 reports Friday across Arizona, California and Nevada. People sent in four videos and one photo of the fireball.

Fireballs, also known as bolides, are defined by NASA as “exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area.” The objects causing fireballs usually aren’t big enough to pass intact through the Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteors, or “shooting stars,” are the visible paths of meteoroids that fall into the Earth’s atmosphere at high velocities, according to NASA.

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Summer Lin is a reporter on the Fast Break Desk, the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news team. Before coming to The Times, she covered breaking news for the Mercury News and national politics and California courts for McClatchy’s publications, including the Sacramento Bee. An East Coast native, Lin moved to California after graduating from Boston College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. In her free time, she enjoys hikes, skiing and a good Brooklyn bagel.