Did you see that weird light?

The bright light seen in the sky over Danville on Sunday night was probably a bolide, according to Ricky Parker, the assistant superintendent for information technology in Pittsylvania County Schools.

When Parker heard that people had seen lights in the sky, he first thought it was probably the International Space Station and the Soyuz spacecraft.

Parker has, after all, been trying to educate the students and public on the appearance of the ISS and Soyuz in the visible sky.

Learning, however, that a big “boom” preceded the lights in the Hampton Roads area, Parker concluded that the lights must have been a bolide breaking up in the atmosphere.

“A bolide is a high-speed meteor with an oblique orbit,” Parker said. “It is white hot and then it cools off and blows up. It is such a transient event that the National Weather Service probably wouldn’t pick it up, but NORAD might be able to pick up its electromagnetic pulse.”

Danville Police Capt. T.W. Jones said Monday morning that several calls came in around 9:50 p.m. Sunday night concerning a big flash in the sky.

“A lady driving down (U.S) 29 near Elizabeth Street said she thought she saw a fireball in the sky,” Jones said. “We did send officers to the area, but they didn’t see anything.”

Officers called the Washington Center Operations Managers of the Federal Aviation Administration, which, Jones said, covers a seven-state area, but the agency said there were no reports of airline crashes or overdue flights.

The Associated Press reported Monday morning that a team of scientists is looking into what could have caused the bright lights in the sky that prompted hundreds of calls to the National Weather Service and emergency officials.

Callers from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina described brilliant, streaking lights followed by an explosion-like sound around 9:45 p.m. Sunday.

Virginia residents from Hampton Roads to Richmond reported seeing “great balls of fire” lighting up the sky in shades of yellow, white, orange and blue. Some described the explosion as sounding like thunder.

Several calls came to Richmond International Airport, according to the AP report, but airport spokesman Troy Bell said tower workers did not see anything unusual.

The weather service said no damage was reported.

Phil Manuel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, said Monday morning that nobody had called the service’s office to report any sightings.

Parker said it was “funny” such an event would happen during the same time it is possible to see the ISS and Soyuz spacecraft in their orbits.

“They are very bright, glowing orange, and the ISS is the brightest of the two,” he said. “The orbits will be in the most favorable positions to be seen over Danville the next few days.”

More information about the ISS and Soyuz can be seen at www.pcs.k12.va.us/public.