Nov 07, 2013 01:09 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Newsrooms' phones rang off the hook in Southern California and 911 operators had their hands full as well with several people calling in about a sudden flash of light in the sky.

According to CNN, Wednesday night, Southern California residents took to the phone, to Twitter or elsewhere to report the strange sighting in the sky. Astronomers said it was most likely a meteor shower, one that was nonetheless unexpected.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command weather department said the sight was a lone meteor that was part of a shower. The American Meteor Society agreed and said the South Taurids meteor showers are typically viewable in the first half of November.

"We've gotten numerous phone calls of people reporting seeing something bright-consistent with a meteor shower - over the eastern desert communities of San Diego," said Lt. Michael Munsey of the San Diego Sheriff's Department.

CNN's local affiliate KCBS reported numerous sightings of the same light in Las Vegas, Arizona and Utah.

"I saw this big, greenish flash like, light up the sky. It was headed pretty sideways from like, east to west. 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,'" Isaacs, of Mission Viejo, told KCBS.

NBC Southern California reported numerous calls flooding their newsroom from people describing the flash of light as a fireball that looked like it exploded. Many of their viewers reported what they saw via Twitter.

"I saw the meteor," one viewer named Jonathan said. "It was huge and broke into three large pieces."

Another viewer, named George described the meteor's tail, saying it "burned in the atmosphere with a trail of debris."

Dr. Laura Danly, a curator at the Griffith Observatory, told KCBS the fireballs many saw have a very reasonable explanation.

"They're rocks bouncing through Earth's atmosphere and they're burning up," she said. "Most of them will never hit the ground. That's what you're seeing."

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