Many people across Texas and the country have reported hearing a loud boom and seeing bright fireballs in the sky over the past week. The sightings have sparked concern, but experts have stated there is no reason to panic. According to the American Meteor Society, what people saw was a meteor, a piece of space material entering Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speed and if any part of this object survives the fall to the ground, it is classified as a meteorite. Elizabeth Bailey, an assistant professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UTSA, explained that meteorites are fragments of rock or metal left over from the formation of the solar system. Despite the timing, these events are not related and not part of an active meteor shower.