Watch a Massive Space Rock Explode into a Fireball Over Illinois

There was an unplanned show in the skies over Illinois Sunday night. Multiple videos show a large space rock explode into a brilliant fireball over the Land of Lincoln.

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According to the American Meteor Society, this meteor turned fireball was seen by hundreds including many in Illinois. Here are videos that captured the moment it exploded into fire in the atmosphere. This occurred at around 8:50pm Sunday night, February 19, 2023.

Here's the viewpoint from over Lake Michigan.

This meteor was so large, it was reported seen as far away as Pennsylvania which is where this dashcam video was captured.

This close-up video shows how many fragments the space rock broke up into as it got closer to Earth.

As of this writing, there are 197 different reports of this fireball over Illinois on the American Meteor Society website as new eyewitnesses continue to come forward. That makes this meteor one of the most visible so far in 2023.