Meteors are mostly the debris from comets. They mostly burn up in the atmosphere, which is why we see them. When we see them, they are not way out in outer space. They are in our atmosphere, just a few miles up. Some land on the ground, and we call them meteorites.
Meteors tend to move much faster after midnight.
Before midnight, we are on the side of the earth facing the direction that the earth has just come from. The meteors that we see then are mostly ones that are catching up with a speeding earth. After midnight, we are on the side of the earth facing toward where the earth is headed. And the earth is plowing into meteors, then. I was driving my car, East of Deer Lodge, facing East.