A meteor shower sent flaming rock soaring across the sky above Russia's Chelyabinsk region in the Ural Mountains, many crashing to earth and causing massive damage in the area.  The shockwave set off car alarms far away from the impact.  Broadcast reports say at least 160 people have sought medical attention (UPDATE: More than 1,000 are injured). 

This happened as many in the region were driving to work, and was captured on video here, here, and check out this one with the shockwave!  This guy was leaning out the window when the shockwave hit!  This motorist had the front and rear cameras on his mobile going, and you can see his reaction to the blinding light from the sky.  Friend, please keep your eyes on the road!

It's an amazing world we live in these days.  Prior to 1992 travel in and out of the Chelyabinsk region was tightly controlled by the former Soviet government because it was the center of nuclear research.  The only view the West had ot the city came from high-altitude spy planes.  Now, it seems everyone has a cell phone with youtube and twitter accounts.  We've got a photo of the aftermath of a piece of the space rock hitting a Zinc plant. 

People were understandably FREAKED OUT.  Although hardly the first meteor event in the vast nation, some were talking about UFOs or a hot war starting (really?  haven't we gotten past that one yet?). 

Russian President Mevedev says the meteor points out the need for a global response system for future events from space.