U.S. Naval Observatory spokesman Geoff Chester said rocks, or meteors, falling out of the sky were not unusual but that it was rare for so many people to witness them.
"This one was so visible because of clear blue skies and the fact that it happened when people were getting ready to leave for work or collecting their newspaper," said Chester.
Thousands of people jammed telephone lines to local radio and television stations and emergency hotlines to report the sighting of the meteor at around 6 a.m. EDT.
Chester said the streak of light was visible for several seconds and that the meteor probably measured anything from the size of a toaster to a small car.
Meteors are small stony objects that plunge from space into the Earth's atmosphere every few weeks. The last major U.S. meteor sighting was in July over the mid-Atlantic, when people from Virginia to upstate New York reported seeing a fireball.