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That's a meteor. Meteorites are different - they're the ones that hit the dirt.

If we're going to be pedantic, it's actually a meteoroid. Meteoroid is the object, meteor is what happens when it hits the atmosphere, and meteorite is when it has hit the ground.

I found Wiktionary the most helpful:

Usage notes Meteor (streak of light in night sky): Not to be confused with meteoroid and meteorite (cause and remains of a meteor), or asteroid and comet (celestial bodies).

It confused me as well.

This post is mistitled. The original Tweet is:

A 1-meter meteoroid (small #asteroid) has been detected and is expected to safely strike Earth's atmosphere over northern France between 3:50-4:03 CET.

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