DENVER -- A fireball witnessed by hundreds on Thanksgiving night likely was caused by a meteor that exploded in the sky somewhere between Gunnison and Crested Butte.

Witnesses said the fireball appeared at 6:20 p.m. Thursday and illuminated entire mountain ranges.

It lingered for seven or eight seconds and was followed by a series of sonic booms, physicist Chris L. Peterson, a member of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science's meteorite investigation team said Monday.

Based on the fireball's brightness and duration, Peterson suspects that the rock weighed 1,000 to 2,000 pounds before it entered the atmosphere and blew apart.

It probably was about the size of a filing cabinet, bigger than the usual basketball-size variety, he said.

Peterson, owner and operator of the Cloudbait Observatory west of Colorado Springs, is analyzing more than 260 witness reports posted on his Web site.

Those accounts suggest that the fireball exploded 10 to 20 miles above the ground in the remote mountainous region in western Colorado.

Some debris may have pelted the earth, he said.

Members of the meteorite investigation team also are reviewing videotape from some of the 10 "all-sky cameras" that the museum recently installed at schools throughout Colorado.

In addition, museum researchers are trying to acquire videotape from private security cameras that may have captured the event.

Additional Resources:

Saw the meteor? File your report online with Cloudbait Observatory