Was there a shooting star through Ursa Major last night?

Question

Was there a shooting star through Ursa Major last night?

Answer 1

Yes.  

Not necessarily because  that's what you saw, or that anyone on Y!A can confirm your sighting, because where you are observing from will have a great influence on where a meteor will appear to an observer.  Most meteors that you see in say, New York, will not be visible to a stargazer in Boston.  Even if it were, it would not appear in the exact same part of the sky...  meteors are incredibly close to us, in relation to the stars, so even the movement of several miles will create a "parallax" type sighting.

But, to answer the question, yes, an observer "somewhere," almost definitely would have been able to see a "shooting star" in the constellation Ursa Major last night.

Answer 2

A shooting star is a relatively local event caused by a meteor about the size of a grain of sand burning up in the atmosphere above the viewer.  Since the atmosphere is perhaps 60 miles thick your shooting star likely will not be seen by people in a nearby state (unless you are on the border).  Also, it appeared to be passing through Ursa Major only because it was between you and that constellation.  Others with a different point of view may have seen it pass through a different background group of stars.