Meteor Streaking Through Chicago Caught On Camera

A meteor streaked through the night sky in Chicago, and many were able to witness the sky event. Some were even able to capture the phenomenon through their home security cameras.

Meteor In Chicago

At about 11:45 p.m. last Friday, several people witnessed a meteor flying over the skies of Chicago, and naturally, many took to social media to share the footage they captured of the event. For instance, in the north suburban area of Riverwoods, some residents were able to capture the event with their security cameras, while a police officer in the west suburbs of Woodridge also captured the event with a dash cam.

A meteor is a rock from space that enters the Earth’s atmosphere. Just as in the Chicago sighting, the “shooting star” that people see when this phenomenon happens is due to the rock heating up as it enters the atmosphere. When it does, and when the conditions are right, people on land see the bright light, which is actually from the extremely hot air around it and not from the rock itself.

Evidently, such events happen all the time, but they are not always noticed, especially during the day.

Meteors, Meteoroids, And Meteorites

The difference between a meteoroid, a meteor, and a meteorite is actually not a matter of what they are, but of where they are. As a matter of fact, it is typically the same object that is merely called different names depending on its state or where it is at the moment.

Simply put, when the object is still in space, whether it is as small as dust or as large as small asteroids, it is called a meteoroid. The moment that it enters the Earth’s or even another planet’s atmosphere at high speeds and burns up as a “shooting star,” it is then called a meteor. Finally, if it survives the atmosphere and ends up on land, it is called a meteorite.

It is estimated that about 48.5 tons of meteoritic material fall on the Earth every day, but most of them are vaporized in the atmosphere.