Flash reported in East Coast sky consistent with meteor shower, NASA says

WASHINGTON –  Social media sites were buzzing Friday night with reports of a flash of light streaking across the sky along the East Coast.

Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environmental Office said the flash appears to be "a single meteor event." He said it "looks to be a fireball that moved roughly toward the southeast, going on visual reports."

"Judging from the brightness, we're dealing with something as bright as the full moon," Cooke said. "The thing is probably a yard across. We basically have (had) a boulder enter the atmosphere over the northeast."

He noted that the meteor was widely seen, with more than 350 reports on the website of the American Meteor Society alone.

"If you have something this bright carry over that heavily populated area, a lot of people are going to see it," he said. "It occurred around 8 tonight ,there were a lot of people out, and you've got all those big cities out there."

Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, agreed that the sightings had all the hallmarks of a "fireball." These include lasting 7-10 seconds, being bright and colorful, and seeming to cross much of the sky with a long stream behind it.

He said what people likely saw was one meteor -- or "space rock" -- that may have been the size of a softball or volleyball and that fell fairly far down into the Earth's atmosphere.

He likened it to a stone skipping across the water -- getting "a nice long burn out of it."

Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society told USA Today "it basically looked like a super bright shooting star."

The newspaper reports that the sky flash was spotted as far south as Florida and as far north as New England.

Pitts said meteors of varying sizes fall from the sky all the time, but that this one caught more eyes because it happened on a Friday evening -- and because Twitter has provided a way for people to share information on sightings.

He said experts "can't be 100 percent certain of what it was, unless it actually fell to the ground and we could actually track the trajectory." But he said the descriptions by so many people are "absolutely consistent" with those of a meteor.

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Next Ford Mustang reported to have four-cylinder turbo, but not in U.S.

The Ford Mustang turns 50 next year, and big changes are in store.

Although details are still held under heavy security, the all-new ‘Stang is widely expected to feature a smaller, lighter chassis with an independent rear suspension that’s wrapped in far more modern bodywork than the current retro ride.

One of the few people who’ve gotten to see it is Ford Racing Driver and DC Shoes founder Ken Block, who tweeted on Tuesday, “I got to see the next generation Mustang today (it’s dope) at the Ford design center! “

As far as power is concerned, there’s little doubt that at least one V8 engine will be offered, and likely a V6 for the entry level model, but Edmunds now reports that a four-cylinder turbo is also in the cards, just not for U.S. sale.

Reporting from the Geneva Auto Show, the automotive news outlet says a 300 hp 2.3-liter version of the current 252 hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder found in the Ford Focus ST will be offered in the ’14 Mustang, but only in European market cars.

Ford has confirmed that it is committed to selling the next generation Mustang in Europe, and will even build a right-hand-drive model for the U.K., a first for the pony car.

Read: Will European sales plan kill the Ford Mustang as we know it?

The last time Ford made a turbocharged Mustang was the 1984-1986 SVO model, which was also designed to compete with European sports cars, but mainly here on U.S. turf. Interestingly, that car also had a 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, but it maxed out at 205 hp.

Despite its critically acclaimed performance, the SVO wasn’t much of a sales success, as American buyers chose the 5.0-liter V8-powered Mustang GT of the day by a wide margin, and it’s no coincidence that’s the same size engine the current GT has under the hood.

As for tomorrow’s, it’ll likely be another year before we find out for sure.

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