Aliens, apocalypse, lightning? ... No, just a meteor rocking Michigan

[January 17, 2018]    (Reuters) - A bright meteor briefly swept across the sky over parts of the U.S. Midwest and Canada on Tuesday, weather and geology agencies said, and then caused a powerful explosion that rattled homes and onlookers.

A car dash cam captures a view of a meteor near Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, U.S., January 16, 2018 in this still image from video obtained from social media. Youtube Mike Austin/via REUTERS

The meteor was seen across the region in places such as Ohio, Michigan and Ontario at about 8 p.m. local time and registered a 2.0 magnitude tremor about 4 miles (7 km) east of Saint Clair Shores in Eastern Michigan, the United States Geological Survey said on its website.

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed it was not a meteorological event but more likely a meteor.

"The NWS can confirm the flash and boom was NOT thunder or lightning, but instead a likely meteor," the NWS in Detroit said on Twitter.

The meteor sighting lit up social media with people posting videos and reaction.

"I can't believe there was a Meteor! It shook our house and made a large bang! We thought someone hit our house," Twitter user Jennifer Wilson said in a post.

Others had more ominous thoughts.

"I thought for sure I was either seeing the alien invasion or the apocalypse. It's awesome in retrospect, freaky ... in real time," said a Twitter user who goes by the name Crash.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Paul Tait)

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