Meteor streaks across skies in Wisconsin and Illinois

A meteor was spotted blazing across the skies in several US Midwest states early on Monday and appeared to fall over Lake Michigan.

Police dashcam footage showed the green flash in Wisconsin and Illinois at about 01:30 local time.

But residents in other states including Michigan and Indiana also reported seeing the fireball light up the skies.

The American Meteor Society said it had received more than 185 reported sightings of the glowing object.

"The fireball was seen primarily from Illinois and Wisconsin, but witnesses from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, New York, Kentucky, Minnesota and Ontario (Canada) also reported the event," the society, which monitors meteor showers, said on its website.

The meteor travelled south-west to the north-east, ending its journey on Lake Michigan between Sheboygan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, according to the society.

The fireball was also reportedly accompanied by a sonic boom that rattled homes in the area, according to meteorologist Jeff Last of the National Weather Service's office in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

It was not clear if the meteor landed in the water or broke up in the sky, he said.

Several onlookers captured the fireball streaking across the skies on police dashcam footage and other cameras, including one atop the University of Wisconsin's Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences building in Madison, Wisconsin.

"It was basically visible for a long distance," said Ricky Castro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Chicago office.

"It was certainly an interesting event, uncommon for the area."