[1.7.10] Making an entity drop from the sky near the player?

I'm making a shooting star. So I want to have a chance of one falling from the sky when each new chunk is generated.

The problem with that is the player most likely won't be able to see it falling since I can't exactly make an EntityItem give off light like that.

So I want to adjust its fall speed so that when a player would typically be entering the area where it's falling or landing, they'll be able to see it.

This is what I have so far but I'm guessing it's not the best way to do what I'm after:

private void worldGen(World world, Random random, int chunkX, int chunkZ)
{
	if (!world.isDaytime())
	{
		int i = random.nextInt(10);
		if (i == 5)
		{
			int x = chunkX + random.nextInt(16);
			int y = 255;
			int z = chunkZ + random.nextInt(16);

			EntityItem item = new EntityItem(world, x, y, z, new ItemStack(Reg.fallen_star));
			world.spawnEntityInWorld(item);
			item.motionY *= 2;
		}
	}
}

And then how would I manage to play a sound on impact to all players within view distance of the star, with equal volume to each?

Would I be better off just making a new entity that extends EntityItem and adding that along with a light effect in there?

Or would that even work?