It was bright.

It was shiny.

It skipped off the skin of the Earth.

Meteor!

SCOTTSBORO, AL (WAFF) – On May 18th, NASA cameras at the Marshall Space Flight Center and Walker County Science Center near Chickamauga, Georgia tracked the entry of a large meteor estimated to weigh some 60 pounds over northeastern Alabama.

This meteor was first picked up at an altitude of 47 miles over northwest Huntsville, moving at a speed of 8 miles per second towards the southeast. It was last visible northeast of Gurley at an altitude of 23 miles.

The meteor was quite bright, with an intensity rivaling that of the waxing crescent Moon (in astronomical terms, it was about visual magnitude -8.3). Calculations automatically performed by the tracking software indicates that this interloper was from the main asteroid belt, moving in an orbit which takes it more than three times Earth’s distance from the Sun.

Observe HQ video and non-altered imagery over on WAFF’s webhouse.

They think pieces of it may have landed north of Woodville and Scottsboro. If any of you find it, NASA would love a piece of it.

If you think you may have seen the meteor, call Dr. Bill Cooke at 256-544-9136 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              256-544-9136      end_of_the_skype_highlighting email him at william.j.cooke@nasa.gov.

Worth noting: it might not be a bad idea to alert the Meteorite Men if any of you sky-watchers find this cold piece from the heavens.

via waff

Update: NASA still wants your help finding the meteorite.