[roadcat]

"You can think of it as a meteorite floating in space that hasn't hit the atmosphere and made it to the ground — yet," added Reddy

I thought it's a meteor in space. But not a meteorite unless it hits the ground. So I can't think of it as a meteorite, and neither should he.

[dr_lew]

I thought it's a meteor in space.

That would be a meteoroid. The term "meteor" refers to the appearance or phenomenon as obsevered. The word itself refers originally to any atmospheric phenomenon, such as a cloud, or lightning.

The use of this general term for what we now think of as "meteors" has a similar history to the term UFO, which linguistically defers the question of identification, but in usage devolves to a particular conclusion.