Last night at approximately 8:30 central time, streaks of flaming objects were seen illuminating the skies throughout the Midwest. (No, this is not about the Bears' Super Bowl flame-out. )

The State Journal-Register, my local newspaper, reports the official word from NORAD...

A preliminary report from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which watches for airborne threats to the U.S. and Canada, also indicated the lights Sunday evening were from a meteor, spokeswoman Maj. April Cunningham said.

Of course, this is exactly how "War of the Worlds", "The Blob", and every other space-based monster movie ever started out, right?

In addition to this astral activity, a seismic event was reported yesterday afternoon in Menard County, northwest of Springfield. Supposedly, the ground shook for just a second or two as if there was a large explosion in the area. Yikes!

Clearly the Tri-Pods are on their way... I'll let you know when I see the first one wreaking havoc and destruction throughout downtown Springfield.

And in case you still believe the "official" news sources for this story, here are a couple...

• Puzzling flash that lit up night sky possibly meteor (State Journal-Register)
• Spectacle in Midwestern sky was probably meteor, military says (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)