Crime & Safety
Chicago Suburbs Meteor Captured on Police Dashcam Tuesday
Park Forest, IL – A meteor made a brief appearance over the Chicago suburbs early Tuesday morning, and a police officer's dashboard camera was in the right place at the right time to capture it.
By Erin Vale · 2026-09-16T18:35:53.969Z
Park Forest, IL – A meteor made a brief appearance over the Chicago suburbs early Tuesday morning, and a police officer's dashboard camera was in the right place at the right time to capture it.
According to the Park Forest Police Department , the meteor streaked across the night sky early Tuesday, Sept. 15. Police shared footage from an officer's dashboard camera showing the event over the south suburban community.
The timestamp visible on the police video shows approximately 1:17 a.m. Tuesday , when most residents would have been asleep. The footage shows the officer traveling along a residential street at night as the meteor appears in the sky ahead.
Police highlighted the meteor's location in the video and also provided a slow motion replay to make the quick moving object easier to spot.
"Did you catch it?" the department asked while sharing the footage on social media.
Information about the meteor remained limited Wednesday. The department's post did not provide details about the meteor's estimated size, altitude, trajectory or whether any material reached the ground.
Meteors can produce extremely brief streaks of light as material enters Earth's atmosphere, meaning cameras sometimes capture events that people on the ground miss entirely.
The Park Forest recording provides a rare local view from a police vehicle traveling through the Chicago suburbs at the time of the event.
Residents who were outside or had security cameras operating around 1:17 a.m. Tuesday may want to check recordings from that time for another possible view of the streak.