A New Jersey policeman on patrol in the middle of the night was treated to a spectacular celestial treat as a meteor streaked across the sky, NPR reported.

On Dec. 2 at 3:09 a.m., Sgt. Michael Virga was on patrol for the Township of Hamilton when his vehicle dashcam caught the path of a fireball that lit up the sky. The event was confirmed by the American Meteor Society, which received several reports along the East Coast of the United States, NPR reported.

“It was a pinpoint in the sky, then a bright lime green streak and then it disintegrated," Virga told NPR.

He thought at first the flashing light came from fireworks, but was startled enough to pull over and rewind his video. Virga saw that he had recorded a clear view of the event, a case of “being in the right place at the right time.”

About the Author

Keep Reading

Blue heron are just one of the hundreds of kinds of animals and plants that call the Okefenokee Swamp home. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Featured

The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman