"Parting clouds, retreating winds, rejuvenated grasses and awakening forests. What a beautiful day."
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
The media approached astronomy people across New England to inquire as to the nature of this remarkable apparition.* It was most likely a meteoroid descending through the atmosphere. Its descent generated enormous heat and light, producing the dazzling display. Most meteoroids are the size of dust grains and the meteors they create are comparatively faint and fleeting. The body responsible for this now-celebrated fireball might have been the size of a stone.
Meteoroids are pieces of flotsam roaming through outer space. When they encounter Earth, the planet's gravity draws them through the atmosphere. The meteoroid's rapid velocity excites nearby atoms, which elevates their electrons into higher energy levels. When the electrons settle back to their original states, they release light with energies equal to the difference between these levels. Meteors are not objects, but are instead the light we perceive when a meteoroid descends through the atmosphere. Meteorites are the remnants of the meteoroids that survive the descent and are often recovered on Earth's surface. It is believed that the remains of this latest celestial interloper might have landed somewhere in the wilds of western Maine. The trick will be in its recovery, for it is likely enshrouded in a forest and will be therefore difficult to detect. (It is only in science fiction movies that meteorites glow brightly and impart superhuman powers onto the socially awkward.)
Some wonders if this light was an alien space craft flaming out in our sky. Well, anything is possible, but it seems strange that an alien race advanced enough to traverse interstellar distances would be so confounded by the encounter with a planet's atmosphere that their ship would crash into it. If, however, one encounters an implausibility** of smoldering extraterrestrials looking perplexed, aggravated, and disheveled as they stumble confusedly through Rangeley, then I will apologize for my skepticism.
Earthlings are likely to experience many more fireballs in future. Although scientists have cataloged most of the asteroids that could potentially inflict significant damage to Earth (called PHA's, or "Potentially Hazardous Asteroids,"). they aren't tracking the smaller bodies because they are quite faint and as they don't pose a danger to us, they generally aren't worth the time.
We never know when the next fire ball will appear. We just have to continue scanning the skies and, as always, we have to expect the unexpected.
*Although yesterday I was somewhat distracted as I had just stolen a bejeweled frog from a dryad inhabiting a nearby ash tree and was frantically attempting to evade five people who were attempting to recover it (true story).
**Yes, there are collective nouns for aliens, as well!