Meteor five times brighter than the moon filmed over Texas

Motorists in Texas have been spellbound by shooting stars five times as bright as the moon, as the North Taurid meteor shower takes place.

CNN reports that one of the fireballs was so bright and powerful that it shook the ground and appeared on a NASA meteor camera 700 kilometres from where it fell.

NASA's Dr Bill Cooke said the organisation was still investigating the details.

"This event was so bright that it was picked up on a NASA meteor camera in the mountains of New Mexico over 500 miles away, which makes it extremely unusual," he said.

"This was a very bright event."

Dr Cooke estimated the object was at least a metre across, and weighed nearly 2 tonnes.

Scientists say the meteor could be part of the annual North Taurid meteor storm, or a piece of the comet Encke.

The North Taurids are known colloquially as "Halloween Fireballs" because they occur around the holiday.