TAMPA, Fla. – Dozens of witnesses shared their stories with NASA of seeing a bright fireball streak across the Florida sky on Tuesday.
The fireball could be seen mainly on the west coast of the state, near Tampa, just after sundown.
WFTS reports the fireball was a piece of an asteroid that broke up over the Gulf of Mexico and landed 45 miles west of Tampa.
NASA estimates the asteroid was about 10 inches wide.
"A typical falling star is about the size of a grain of sand,so that's a pretty good size." said St. Petersburg College astronomy professor Dr. Craig Joseph.