What Was the Green Flash Over Arizona? Doorbell Video Captures Apparent Meteor Near Scottsdale

The bright green flash seen over Arizona early Tuesday, October 6, appears to have been a meteor. A doorbell camera near Scottsdale captured the light crossing the night sky, while people around the Phoenix area reported seeing the same striking display shortly after 1 a.m. A separate webcam in Dragoon, southeast of Tucson, recorded a bright object at about 1:03 a.m. Arizona time.

What does the Scottsdale doorbell video show?

The doorbell-camera footage shows a luminous streak above a residential street. Axios reported that a local resident shared the recording after people began comparing sightings in a Scottsdale online discussion. Other residents posted accounts and recordings of the flash, describing a green or blue-green light that briefly brightened their surroundings.

The sightings were not confined to the spot where the doorbell camera was installed. People in Scottsdale and elsewhere in the Phoenix area reported seeing the object. The Dragoon webcam provides another recording from a different part of Arizona, showing a bright streak that flares as it travels across the sky.

Those videos make the event more than a single unexplained camera flash. They do not, however, establish an exact flight path, the object’s size or a landing site. An object appearing low over the horizon can still be far away and high above the ground.

Was the green flash a meteor?

A meteor is the visible streak produced when a small object from space enters Earth’s atmosphere at high speed. An especially bright meteor is called a fireball. The appearance of the Arizona streak and the recordings from multiple locations are consistent with a fireball, though a detailed analysis of its trajectory has not been established.

The green color alone cannot identify the object or prove what it was made of. Elements in a meteor and the surrounding atmosphere can contribute to its visible colors. Likewise, footage of a bright flare or apparent breakup does not show that a piece survived to reach the ground; a fragment that does so is called a meteorite.

For anyone checking a doorbell or security camera for the Arizona fireball, the useful window is shortly after 1 a.m. on Tuesday, October 6. A clear recording with an accurate timestamp and viewing direction could help investigators compare observations and narrow down the object’s path.