We're still early. In Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, residents phoned authorities with reports of fireballs and suspected plane crashes. Calif. The Leonids occur every year on or about Nov. 18, tempting star gazers everywhere. It's the meteor shower. Worried Ohio residents swamped the Columbus airport with calls about a possible flaming aircraft.
Scientists say they likely saw an asteroid or satellite unrelated to the showers.
The Leonid shooting stars can dart anywhere overhead, but they all appear to come from the direction of the constellation Leo, which gives the annual shower its name. The annual shower comes from dust and ice pellets that break off from the comet Tempel-Tuttle as it whizzes around the sun. These cosmic bullets rip into Earth's atmosphere at about 40 miles per second, burning in a streak of light known as a shooting star. The most dazzling displays are likely every 33 years, as the comet passes the sun and sheds more debris than usual. For various astronomical reasons, this year's shower could also be the best show for decades to come.