What was that?

Fox 13

DAVENPORT - A mysterious fireball that raced across the night sky in Polk County has people wondering, "What in the world was it?"

Rhett Marcatos was sitting on his porch in Davenport, when something caught his eye. An unidentified flying object that appeared to be engulfed in flames was shooting towards the horizon.

"I didn't know what to do. Take the kids inside, or let them see it. So, I hollered to my wife to come outside. After two to three minutes of watching it, she thought to grab the camcorder," Marcatos told FOX 13.

Soon, the whole neighborhood was outside looking up in amazement.

"I didn't want it to land anywhere near where I was. That's forever lovin' sure," said Rhett's mom, Dorothy Marcatos.

Minutes later, they saw a second baffling sight. Another unidentified streak, much lighter than the first, moving across the sky far in the distance.

The unexplained phenomena caught the attention of a lot of other people too. Dozens of 911 calls came into the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
When video of the fireball showed up on "You Tube," the internet began buzzing about it. Everyone was wondering what could it be.

"When I got to work the next day, I showed people the video. Within minutes, they said, 'You got aliens. That's a UFO,'" Marcatos said. "I had one gentleman say 'That started the fires on I-4,' because the very next day the I-4 accident happened."

A spokesman for the Kennedy Space Center says it might have been space trash falling to earth.

The astrophysicist who runs the planetarium at Florida Southern College in Lakeland disagrees. Dr. Mossayeb Jamshid says objects from outer space fall quicker. It took at least 10 minutes for the fireball to disappear. Jamshid says it may have been a jet that looked like it was on fire because an optical illusion of the sunset hitting its contrail.

Whatever it was, Marcatos is now convinced that the unexpected can happen anytime, anywhere.

"I look up. I look up a lot," he said.