The meteor followed a record hot day in the D.C. area and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic but was unrelated to any weather phenomena.

It is probable that the meteor — or rock from space that entered Earth's atmosphere — was a fireball, or particularly bright meteor. It was seen as far south as Richmond and as far north as New York, according to reports on X, previously known as Twitter.

The NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page said the fireball first became visible as it entered the atmosphere about 47 miles above Forest Hill, Md., near the state's northeastern corner, and was sweeping to the northwest at 36,000 mph. "It disintegrated at an altitude of 22 miles above the Gnatstown in Pennsylvania, having achieved a brightness equal to that of a quarter Moon and traveling just over 55 miles through the atmosphere," the page said.

Dozens of Capital Weather Gang social media account followers said they witnessed the spectacle.

Travis Hare described it on X as "an absolutely amazing green fireball sparking through the eastern sky!"

"I saw it in Metuchen, New Jersey. It was bright green! One of the coolest things I've ever seen," tweeted Collin Gross.

"What was amazing is how bright it was," tweeted @jesse_agan, who saw the fireball in Chantilly, Va.

As the meteor passed through the atmosphere, it appeared to burn up — emitting a glowing, bright light before it developed a green tail.