Southern California residents on their homeward commute Wednesday night got a brilliant traveling show as what scientists believe was a meteor streaked across the twilight sky.

“I saw this big, greenish flash like, light up the sky. It was headed pretty sideways from like, east to west,” said Matthew Isaacs, from Mission Viejo. I thought, ‘Is that a firework?’ And then I realized, that couldn’t be that big. It’s just in the middle of nowhere in a totally dark area where there’s no houses or anything where anyone would shoot fireworks. I thought, ‘Man, it must have been a meteor.’”

According to the North American Aerospace Defense Command weather department, the meteor people saw was most likely part of the South Taurids meteor showers. These showers are generally most visible during the first half of November, according to American Meteor Society.

This sighting came at just the right time as two teams of researchers just had two study regarding space debris impacts on Earth were published earlier that day. The first study looked at the rate of asteroid impacts against Earth’s atmosphere published in the science journal Nature earlier that same day.

That study was based on a 20-year observation, and the researchers had found that 60 asteroids had struck at Earth’s atmosphere, an astounding two to 10 times higher than previously thought. This means that instead of an asteroid such as the Chelyabinsk-size rocks crashing into Earth every century, it could happen as frequently as every decade.

The other study worked to recreate a model of the Chelyabinsk asteroid that hit Russia, injuring 1,000 people. Using images and videos shared by people on the social networks of the asteroid, the research team was able to put together an accurate model of the asteroid, which enabled them also to map the entire extent of the damage that it caused.

According to the study, the damage left by the asteroid extended to 55 miles of damage to either side of the asteroid’s trail.

As a surprise discovery, last September, The Los Angeles Times reported a finding made by divers of a chunk of meteorite. This chunk weighed more than half a ton, and researchers studying it believe it belongs to the Chelyabinsk meteor from Lake Chebarkul in Russia. Scientists have labeled this an incredibly important discovery, as it is so far the biggest fragment found, measuring at 56 foot wide.