Bright Lights—Possibly From a Meteor Show—Seen From Southwest RivCo

Residents of the Temecula Valley and across Southern California reported seeing bright flashes of light—possibly from a meteor shower—in the sky Wednesday evening.

All were curious.

Local Patch freelance reporter Joe Fanaselle said he witnessed the mysterious event just before 8 p.m. as he was driving northbound on Interstate 215, just past Scott Road, in Menifee.

"Suddenly the entire sky lit up in front of me, but I could tell the flashes came from behind me. Or straight above," Fanaselle said.

There were a total of three flashes, he said.

"It began kind of dim and progressively got bright enough to light up the sky over the course of about a second or second and a half; there were instantly two more very bright and quick flashes. The entire effect lasted about two seconds or so.

"It was VERY bright, almost like lightning.

"Everyone on the freeway briefly tapped their brakes, then continued on their way."

Others reported seeing what could have been a fireball at about the same time and from the same direction.

Fanaselle said he was listening to the police scanner and heard various reports that some people thought a transformer had blown.

Murrieta Patch reader Amy Finley posted: “Did anyone else see the entire sky light up tonight? Any info?”

People from across the Inland Empire, San Diego, the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles reported seeing the bright flash, according to NBC4.

This video of what appears to be a fireball was uploaded to Vine.

It could have been a meteor shower: according to Earthsky.org, the South Taurid meteor shower was expected to be most visible in early November.

"...That's most likely what it was," a National Weather Service meteorologist told a San Gabriel Valley Union Tribune reporter.

Across the globe, at 11:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time—8:15 p.m. Pacific Time— a spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan en route to the International Space Station. A spokesperson for NASA told Patch he didn't believe the launch effects could have been seen from as far away as Southern California, and could offer no comment on the possible fireball/meteor sighting.

If we hear otherwise, we will let you know.

Did you see it? At what time and what did it look like?