High in the sky in Indiana and other surrounding states. A Bolis meteor shined bright and came with a bang on July 22.

Most of the reports came between 1:45 a.m. and 2 a.m. Eastern. While many of the reports originated from Indiana, observers in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin all reported seeing something. One observer reported seeing it as far away as Alabama.

Witnesses reported an object falling from the sky followed by a flash of light. Hoosiers saw it in Yorktown, Middletown, Muncie, Noblesville, West Lafayette and Zionsville, among other Indiana communities. The loud boom, heard in multiple Indiana counties, was attributed to a meteor explosion and the resulting “air burst.”

Rafael Lang, a professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University, the object was a “bolide,” also known as a fireball. Lang described it as a “shooting star on steroids.”

It was the opening act of the Perseid meteor shower happens annually between July 17 and Aug. 24. The peak is expected on Aug. 11 and 12.