Were these shooting stars?

Question

me and a friend were outside very late at night, and we noticed two really creepy things that seemed like shooting stars, but not really.

the first one was very bright, and it was like a white ball, and it just started going back a little and just shot through the sky. later on that night there was another similar one, except it was big blue-ish ball that just shot down this time, from the sky. i am pretty sure these wernt shooting stars. were they falling stars? the second one made more sense but the first one i couldnt figure out at all. what are they!!?

Answer 1

Please call them meteors.  The term shooting star should have died out in the 17th century when people started to know that they had nothing whatsoever to do with stars.  

It is possible that you saw two fireballs. Fireballs are simply very bright meteors.  They are big enough rocks (perhaps as big as a softball) that explode under the heat of entry into the atmosphere.  The fragments can often shoot off in different directions.  I have only seen two of these in 50 years, and I have a special interest.  So if that is what you saw, you are lucky.  Go buy a lottery ticket.

Answer 2

If you just saw them in the past couple of days what you saw was the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Answer 3

O.M.G.!  You have had a Close Encounter Of The 6th Kind.

Answer 4

Well actually there was a meteor shower yesterday night and I think so nights before that, when did this happen?  It might have been the shower you saw.   Here's a report about it:

Meteor shower tonight

- Weather permitting, treat for sky-gazers

A STAFF REPORTER

Sky-gazers can look forward to a spectacular celestial display on Tuesday with the annual Perseid meteor shower lighting up the night sky.

The Perseid meteor shower — a popular astronomical highlight that typically occurs on August 12 or 13 every year — occurs when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet with meteoroids hitting the atmosphere at a speed of 60 km per second.

Debiprosad Duari, the director of research and academics at MP Birla Planetarium, said the best time to see the shower in Calcutta is between 9.30pm and daybreak. The north-eastern horizon of the sky will offer a good view, he added.

The shower is best witnessed on a clear, moonless night from an open space. “It is an accidental phenomenon that can happen anytime at night. In the past, it has produced brilliant fireworks,” said Duari.

Duari warns that one might have to wait for a long time or even sacrifice a night’s sleep to watch the meteor drizzle.

“Visibility might be poor if the sky is cloudy or the city too brightly lit,” Duari added.

The Perseid meteor shower derives its name from the constellation Perseus, from which it darts out. Swift-Tuttle, its source, passes through the inner solar system every 130 years, leaving behind a trail of dust and rocky segments that intersects the Earth’s orbit, producing these vivid streaks of light every August.

Once the moon sets around 12.45am on Wednesday, there will be greater chances of spotting the shower, Duari said.