Was it a plane? A satellite? A speck of cosmic dust? Or just a precursor to a larger Leonid meteor shower expected to peak Wednesday night?
Not many people seemed to know for sure, at least not immediately.
A little after 6 p.m. Tuesday, a bright light–most reported it as green–streaked across the eastern sky of the Chicago area for about five to 10 seconds and appeared to break into a cascade of particles, causing a variety of reactions among viewers that ranged from cosmically cool to panic stricken.
Dan Troiani, an astronomer at the Cernan Earth and Space Center at Triton College in River Grove, was convinced that the light was caused by “space debris” rather than a meteor shower.
Troiani, who saw “the object” on videotape, said it was moving too slowly to be a part of the expected meteor storm. He added that most meteors are orange or red.
Shane Crone, the Adler Planetarium’s observatory operator and sky show operator, agreed, saying the reported bright green color made him doubt it was a meteor. More likely, he said, it was a satellite.
But then again, he said, “It’s hard to say.”
Many people called police stations with frantic reports.
Jon Peterson of Island Lake, who was driving eastbound on Illinois Highway 176 when he saw the light, said he feared it was a plane crash.
Danita Fleck of Chicago, who was driving into the city on the Eisenhower Expressway, described it as an awesome natural light show rivaling the best 4th of July display.