REGION 'Fireballs in the sky' suspected of being just a meteor shower
A federal agency told police similar sightings were reported throughout the region.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- City police say they received numerous calls from people saying they saw fiery objects falling from the night sky.
Police said this morning there are no indications that any of them actually hit in the area, though to some callers, it appeared that they had touched down here.
The objects were spotted throughout much of northern Ohio and out of state.
The calls to Salem police came in shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday, some of them describing "fireballs in the sky," a police report said.
Callers said they thought the objects touched near town.
Salem police called Perry Township and informed them of the sightings.
City police also contacted the Columbiana County Sheriff's Department, which also was receiving similar calls.
One caller to the sheriff's office said he thought an object touched down near the Schneider Road area of Hanover Township and might have started a fire.
The township fire department was dispatched but found nothing.
Other areas: The Federal Aviation Administration office in Cleveland was contacted by police, who told them that they were getting calls from throughout the Lake Erie region and that people as far away as Wisconsin had spotted the objects.
An FAA spokesman told police that no aircraft had gone down and suggested the objects were related to a natural phenomenon such as a meteor shower.
The Trumbull County 911 center reported getting five calls about strange lights in the sky around 8:30 last night from Howland, Bazetta, Hubbard, Champion and West Farmington. Officials at the call center attributed the lights to meteorites.