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Meteor seen streaking across Florida sky

Posted at 8:19 AM, Feb 18, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-18 08:19:48-05

MIAMI (WTVR) - More streaking lights seen in the skies over the weekend, but not in Russia. These were seen over the skies of Broward County, Florida.

The Broward Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Coast Guard received hundreds of calls from people claiming to have seen the lights over the ocean around Hallandale Beach.

Some people thought it was a flare from a distressed boater but the Coast Guard said that wasn't the case.

The American Meteor Society confirms the light was a sporadic fireball meteor. These meteors streak across the skies several times a day across the globe and come from an asteroid belt.

The one seen over South Florida landed in the ocean and was likely between the size of a golf ball to a soccer ball.

A much larger meteorite caused millions of dollars in damages and hurt hundreds when in exploded over the Chelyabinsk region of Russia late last week.