Mystery Fireball Lights Up Sky
POSTED: 6:17 pm PDT July 1,
2008
UPDATED: 7:10 pm PDT July 1,
2008
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Emergency communications centers across Southern California on Tuesday received 911 calls about a fireball in the sky, KNBC's Mary Parks reported.
VideoDozens of people, including fire and rescue teams, reported seeing a bright yellow and orange fireball streaking through the sky about 10:30 a.m.Callers from Lake Elsinore and Temecula thought they were seeing an aircraft on fire speeding toward the mountains, Parks reported.
Sheriff's helicopters immediately took off in search of a downed aircraft. One scanner transmission even indicated an emergency beacon was being received in the area of Butler Peak near Big Bear, Parks reported.Big Bear Lake Patrol also reported seeing the fireball, but investigators in the air and on the ground found no evidence of wreckage or fire.A helicopter rescue team as far away as Primm, Nev., described seeing the fast-moving fireball, Parks reported.With the notion of possible military exercises being conducted, KNBC contacted numerous bases "but came up empty," Parks reported.The Federal Aviation Administration had no reports of missing or overdue aircraft.San Bernardino County dispatch supervisor Tom Barnes told the Los Angeles Times that the department has "basically determined it was most likely not an aircraft and was probably man-made or a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere."
VideoDozens of people, including fire and rescue teams, reported seeing a bright yellow and orange fireball streaking through the sky about 10:30 a.m.Callers from Lake Elsinore and Temecula thought they were seeing an aircraft on fire speeding toward the mountains, Parks reported.
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