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2 Jun, 2016 12:27

Arizona meteor: First videos show stunning flash across night skies (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

Arizona meteor: First videos show stunning flash across night skies (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

A meteor flared across the sky over Phoenix, Arizona Thursday morning, reportedly waking many residents from their slumber with the sound of a loud bang as it passed.

Locals took to social media to question what the noise was, as others confirmed it was a meteor streaking through the sky.

READ MORE: Extraterrestrial blade: King Tutankhamun’s dagger came from outer space

The first videos and photos of the meteor streak show a dramatic bright flare as the space rock fizzles overhead.

Photos of the trail of swirling smoke left behind have also been shared across social media.

#meteor

A photo posted by Jesus Hernandez (@jesushhernandez) on

Well that was loud. Meteor explosion overhead. #meteor #explosion #phoenix #arizona #vaportrail #sunset #sky

A photo posted by Chris Defibrillator (@808defibrillator_official) on

Just saw that #meteor #cnn

A photo posted by Laura Briggs Real Estate Group (@azhomesbylaura) on

Arizona, famously, is already home to a massive meteor crater.

An iron asteroid, some 98-164ft (30-50 meters) in diameter, impacted the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona an estimated 50,000 years ago, resulting in an enormous crater nearly a mile (1.6km) wide and 570ft (174 meters) deep.

The US Geological Survey says the impact “exploded with the force of over 2 million tons of TNT” - about 150 times the power of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima in World War II.

READ MORE: Meteor spectacularly shoots through sky in New York State (VIDEO) 

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