A fireball streaked across the sky in the South on Thursday, catching the attention of people in several states.Video above: Watch the fireball in the sky above Batesburg, South CarolinaThe National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, said that after the reports of the fireball, there were also reports of an earthquake, which is believed to be “the result of a sonic boom from the meteor or space junk.”An Emergency Management Agency in Henry County, Georgia, said a citizen had a “rock” fall through their roof around the same time. NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville was able to provide some insight. The meteor was first seen while at an altitude of 48 miles above Oxford, Georgia, as it was moving at 30,000 mph.The meteor disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia.The meteor unleashed the same amount of energy as 20 tons of TNT, creating booms heard.The fireball was produced by an asteroid fragment that was 3 feet in diameter and weighed more than a ton.The National Weather Service in Charleston said there were “many reports of a #fireball across the Southeast U.S. It is not certain, but the satellite-based lightning detection shows a streak within cloud free sky over the NC/VA border, over Gasbury, VA. This streak was detected between 12:51 to 12:56 pm.”The Geostationary Lightning Mapper detected it around the Virginia and North Carolina border. Videos and pictures from South Carolina and Georgia show the meteorite falling from the sky around 11:20 a.m. CT. The CarolinasSouth Carolina sister station WYFF reports that Kathryn Farr was on I-85 in Anderson County when she took a video of the fiery ball. See that video belowCaleb Holland sent a video from Anderson County, South Carolina. See it below.North Carolina sister station WXII also reported that the fireball was spotted in the Carolinas. WXII also reports that, according to The American Meteor Society, sightings of the fireball were also reported in Tennessee. Sister station WVTM reports that while no videos have been submitted to the station, there have been reports of people seeing it in Alamba as well.GeorgiaSister station WJCL reports that multiple people in Georgia reported not only seeing it, but feeling it.Reports of an earthquake that NWS said is a result of the sonic boom popped up shortly after the sightings of the fireball.Below is a look at the “rock” that a citizen said fell through their roof. You can see the hole in the roof and the debris on the floor of their home in Henry County, Georgia, which his outside of Atlanta.In the player below: Dash cam video obtained by CNN shows the fireball in Forsyth County, GeorgiaCNN reported that the Federal Aviation Administration said there was no unusual aircraft activity in the area._____CNN and sister stations WJCL, WXII, WYFF and WVTM contributed to this report.
A fireball streaked across the sky in the South on Thursday, catching the attention of people in several states.
Video above: Watch the fireball in the sky above Batesburg, South Carolina
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The National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, said that after the reports of the fireball, there were also reports of an earthquake, which is believed to be “the result of a sonic boom from the meteor or space junk.”
An Emergency Management Agency in Henry County, Georgia, said a citizen had a “rock” fall through their roof around the same time.
NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville was able to provide some insight.
- The meteor was first seen while at an altitude of 48 miles above Oxford, Georgia, as it was moving at 30,000 mph.
- The meteor disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia.
- The meteor unleashed the same amount of energy as 20 tons of TNT, creating booms heard.
- The fireball was produced by an asteroid fragment that was 3 feet in diameter and weighed more than a ton.
The National Weather Service in Charleston said there were “many reports of a #fireball across the Southeast U.S. It is not certain, but the satellite-based lightning detection shows a streak within cloud free sky over the NC/VA border, over Gasbury, VA. This streak was detected between 12:51 to 12:56 pm.”
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper detected it around the Virginia and North Carolina border.
Videos and pictures from South Carolina and Georgia show the meteorite falling from the sky around 11:20 a.m. CT.
The Carolinas
South Carolina sister station WYFF reports that Kathryn Farr was on I-85 in Anderson County when she took a video of the fiery ball.
See that video below
Caleb Holland sent a video from Anderson County, South Carolina. See it below.
North Carolina sister station WXII also reported that the fireball was spotted in the Carolinas. WXII also reports that, according to The American Meteor Society, sightings of the fireball were also reported in Tennessee. Sister station WVTM reports that while no videos have been submitted to the station, there have been reports of people seeing it in Alamba as well.
Georgia
Sister station WJCL reports that multiple people in Georgia reported not only seeing it, but feeling it.
Reports of an earthquake that NWS said is a result of the sonic boom popped up shortly after the sightings of the fireball.
Below is a look at the “rock” that a citizen said fell through their roof. You can see the hole in the roof and the debris on the floor of their home in Henry County, Georgia, which his outside of Atlanta.
In the player below: Dash cam video obtained by CNN shows the fireball in Forsyth County, Georgia
CNN reported that the Federal Aviation Administration said there was no unusual aircraft activity in the area.
_____
CNN and sister stations WJCL, WXII, WYFF and WVTM contributed to this report.
