I saw a big one in the evening during army bootcamp. For a second or two it was as bright as day.

One of the guys says "wtf was that?" and another replied "it's a falling star" (literal term we use for shooting stars in our language).

A third guy asks, "so why do stars fall?". Silence.

I ventured, "uh, guys... stars don't fall. Stars are like the Sun, just really far away. What we saw was a meteor, a rock that flew through space and burned up when it hit the atmosphere."

Half the squad looked at me like I just said that babies are delivered by storks. I could tell they thought that was total bullshit but couldn't offer an alternative explanation and call me on it.

It was then that I realized how smart and educated the average person is. Army service was mandatory back then so everyone had to go.