Science

‘Took My Breath Away’: Huge ‘Fireball’ Meteor Rattles Nevada and California

Huge Fireball Meteor Causes Explosion, Boom in Nevada and California

(Photo: KTNV)

(The Blaze/AP) — A loud explosion heard across much of Nevada and California on Sunday morning rattled homes and prompted a flood of calls to law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Sierra Nevada, some reporting fireball sightings.

Astronomers have said the sound and the light show were likely caused by a meteor that entered Earth’s atmosphere.

“It made the shades in my room shake hard enough to slam into the window a couple times,” Nicole Carlsen remarked. “I kept looking for earthquake information, but (there was) nothing. I even checked the front of my house to make sure no one ran into the garage. I wish I had seen the meteor.”

Erin Girard-Hudson of Arnold, Calif., told The Union Democrat of Sonora, Calif., that the loud boom that occurred around 8 a.m. made her 2-year-old daughter, Elsie, cry.

“It knocked me off my feet and was shaking the house,” she said. “It sounded like it was next door.”

No damages or injuries were immediately reported. There were no reports of earthquakes at the time.

Some people reported seeing a brilliant light streak across the sky at the same time. Sightings occurred over roughly a 600-mile line across the two states, including Reno, Elko and North Las Vegas in Nevada, and the San Francisco, Sacramento and Bakersfield areas in California.

Astronomers said they believe the mysterious light was a fireball, which is a very bright meteor. It will take time to determine the path of the fireball and where it broke up, they added.

“From the reports, I have no doubt it was a fireball,” said Robert Lunsford of the Geneseo, N.Y.-based American Meteor Society. “It happens all the time, but most are in daytime and are missed. This one was extraordinarily bright in the daylight.”

Lunsford said it’s “pretty rare” for fireballs to produce a loud explosion. For that to happen, he explained, the meteor must have survived intact until breaking up about five miles above Earth. Most fireballs are visible at 50 miles above Earth.

“If you hear a sonic boom or loud explosion, that’s a good indication that some fragments may have reached the ground,” Lunsford told The Associated Press. “We’ll have to get some people to work on it to pinpoint where it broke up and see if anything can be found on the ground.”

Lunsford said more than 20 people in the two states had filed reports with his group by midmorning about seeing the fireball.

Huge Fireball Meteor Causes Explosion, Boom in Nevada and California

NASA has captured clear photos of other "fireballs" (Photo: NASA)

“I have been looking at the sky for 30 years, and I have never witnessed something so amazing and puzzling. It is an event that makes you glad to be alive,” said Matthew Neal of San Francisco. “The main body was bright green and the head was bright red and white.”

Greg Giroux of June Lake, Calif., located along the eastern Sierra just west of Yosemite National Park, also was impressed.

“This was by far the brightest fireball/shooting star I’ve ever seen, especially since it was in full sunlight,” he said. “After the flash, it broke up into pieces, then I lost sight of it as it went behind a mountain.”

In Nevada, the light show was seen as far east as Elko, about 300 miles east of Reno, and as far south as the Las Vegas area.

Marcia Standifer of Spring Creek, near Elko, and her husband were out drinking coffee when they saw the fireball at the same time.

“It was a very bright ball of white light, then dimmer to the horizon,” she said. “We thought this was very unusual due to the bright daylight and how vivid the object was.”

Tracey Cordaro of North Las Vegas said the sighting “took my breath away.”

“It was amazing,” she said. “It looked as if it was disintegrating rapidly, but was still quite large when it disappeared from my view … (It was) bright green, visible in the bright sunlight.”

Dan Ruby, associate director of the Fleischmann Planetarium at the University of Nevada, Reno, said it’s unlikely the fireball had anything to do with the current peak of the Lyrid meteor shower.

“People are putting two and two together and saying it has something to do with the meteor shower,” he said. “But the fireball was probably coincidental and unrelated to the peak of the meteor shower.”

Though the fireball was seen over such a wide area, Ruby said it was likely just “a little bigger than a washing machine.”

Comments (108)

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  • c.foster4722
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:59pm

    Too bad it didn’t hit calofornic, then we would be rid of Polosy,Boxer,and that other Commie bi**h! Oh well at least I can dream!!

    Report Post »  
    • PaxInVeritate
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:09am

      *Sigh* And what about those who reside in California who live and honor the Lord. You desire our deaths as well? Instead of spewing your animosity, how about fasting and praying for your fellow brothers and sisters to have a conversion of heart and an enlightening of mind?

      Report Post » PaxInVeritate  
    • Dr Vel
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:10am

      PaxInVeritate “*Sigh* And what about those who reside in California who live and honor the Lord.”

      If you roller skate in the freeway do you think He will protect you? Maybe He expects His children to use common sense and get out of a pit of vipers. Or have you forgotten how He told Lot to vacate the city before He judged it. He made Lot move. Maybe you should too.

      Report Post »  
    • PaxInVeritate
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 2:08am

      Hmmm… let’s see… by your standards then you will be taking up residence on the Moon? When the time comes for the judgement there will be nowhere to hide. The entire populace of the whole world will be judged, not just California. 
      And by the way, S.F. and L.A. do not make up the entire state, nor do all cities/communities share their progressive insanity and are completely incensed by the progressive agenda forced upon us only because they have a larger voting block in Sacramento. Take the San Joaquin valley. Use to be “Bread Basket of The World”. Now, because of environmental wackos, we have to import food from China to feed laid off farm workers because the farms don’t have water due to a “geologically endangered species” called the Delta Smelt. And the list of reasons go on and on.

      Report Post » PaxInVeritate  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:48am

      Thanks Pax!

      I live in Socal and I wouldn’t want people exterminated either for there are many good servants of the Lord here. We are being given warnings. I cannot think of another period in my own life time where we had so much stirrings in the heavens with things/objects falling from the sky apart from all the other things such as earthquakes, storms, huge waves, economic and social unrest.

      Now this one packed a wallop of a shock wave, what happens when the thing is 10 times the size and explodes over a populated area? Signs and Wonders people!

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
    • Dr Vel
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 2:11pm

      “S.F. and L.A. do not make up the entire state”

      Yet you along with the rest of the ‘entire state’ do not stand up raising enough hell to cause change. Your combined votes fill America with communist politicians such as Pelosi and Obama considering the fact that voters in both the east and west coast are in effect over ruling the will of the people in all the other states combined. What does living on the moon have to do with anything? I live in the rural middle now. After 30 years in Az I could no longer stand the crime and violence being caused by the never ending invasion from outside the country. After being robbed 9 times in one year I decided to get out. Life has been quiet and peaceful ever since. God issued warnings to get out of harms way in the bible, it is there for anyone with wisdom to read. He never said ‘move to the moon’ so why are you if you are claiming you speak for Him? If He wishes to judge an area filled with violence and evil and those He does not want to harm refuse to leave in effect you are blocking Him from what he needs to do. The Lord held up His judgment of Sodom allowing Lot time to get away. Have you never read where the angels wished to go in but the Lord said to wait as He did not wish to harm the wheat?

      Report Post »  
    • MittensKittens
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 3:38pm

      that wasn’t a fireball, it was Obuma’s presidency flaming out!

      Report Post » MittensKittens  
  • Netsurfer2
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:53pm

    It’s interesting how the world government leaders really detest how many people are on this earth and growing! That is what the environmental hype is all about! Plants have more rights than animals these days and with luck the human race is the lowest in their eyes! Ahhh…. yes! There will be more carbon credits to pay on this one! Who are they kidding?

    Report Post » Netsurfer2  
  • Thevoice
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:53pm

    Where’s the big one already …I am tired of waiting….

    Report Post » Thevoice  
  • 1casawizard
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:44pm

    I’d like to find even a quarter size meteor. They can be worth a chunk of change depending on its ingredients.

    Report Post » 1casawizard  
    • Saywhatonemoretime
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:50pm

      meteorite men
      discovery channel.
      make bank on space rocks.

      Report Post » Saywhatonemoretime  
    • PaxInVeritate
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:20am

      Indeed.

      Report Post » PaxInVeritate  
    • Quest4Freedom
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:16pm

      Yeah, let’s talk about that. Does anybody remember the short but sweet article about how ALL of our moon rocks dissappeared? Now, THAT would be some serious change! Maybe this is the “hope & change” we hear so much about from this president.

      Report Post »  
  • BS61
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:40pm

    Why do you continue to waste my time on non-news?!

    Report Post »  
    • raiderglenn
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:50pm

      try this…. DON’T CLICK ON THE STORY!

      sheeeeesh…

      Report Post » raiderglenn  
    • beh0003
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 9:25pm

      Yet you found the time to post a remark. Maybe this IS news to some people, myself included.

      Report Post » beh0003  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 9:39pm

      I don’t know but I waited up 2 nights in a row to see these and got nothing. these folks got a great show.

      Report Post »  
    • 82dAirborne
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 10:05pm

      And yet you find the time to waste ours…. Read the damn headlines and then DO NOT click on them.

      Report Post » 82dAirborne  
    • stephenb.net
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 3:50pm

      I was driving up highway 99 heading north and driving through the Lodi area on Friday the 20th at about 10:30 PM when I saw a huge fireball travelling south to north fall from the sky with sparks flying off it as it changed from bright white ot a cool green before buring out. It was cool. News? Perhaps not but it’s better than listening to lying politicians, degenerate hate filled bigots, violent revenge filled miscreants who want to kill someone based on their own biases. It’s cool, glad to hear the story about an even bigger one only a few nights later and a few more miles north.

      Report Post »  
  • YesNdeedie
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:20pm

    Zues was sending down his lightning bolt in search of dirty harry.

    Report Post »  
  • Salamander
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:15pm

    All they need to do is to find someone that saw it, but not moving, only glowing brighter and brighter, a brilliant green then blue–and did NOT hear a thing! That person would be at the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow–so to speak! Impact of artifacts would be within a few miles of that person!

    Report Post »  
  • bullcrapbuster
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:07pm

    Yep it is a common everyday occurance that hardly anybody ever notices. May I say B/S.

    Report Post » bullcrapbuster  
  • KickinBack
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:55pm

    Death of a space rock:

    Billions of years ago, Mr. Meteor was born, and lived a happy life traveling through space. Until someway, somehow, because of George Bush, it crashed and burned in Earth’s atmosphere.

    Report Post » KickinBack  
    • marine249
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:05pm

      ain’t it the lib truth

      Report Post »  
    • tradexpertbuysell
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:14pm

      WOW!

      Nobody mentioned this but daylight meteorites are very rare because to use a traveling car analogy traveling in a forward direction during a hail storm the front windshield would be getting heavily pelted while the rear window would see little impact. This relates to the spin at that time of day or the earth’s rotation relative to entering atmosphere foreign objects is moving at a vector similar to rear car window impact. To hear two reports like this in less than a month is quite something!

      Report Post »  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:43pm

    still searching for video…hopeing someone loads something to you tube…no one seems to have any. (but apparently there were also earthquakes and volcanos in the pacific ring of fire…and meteors! damx…leave cali!

    Report Post » Teabunny  
    • tradexpertbuysell
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:09pm

      Nobody mentioned this but daylight meteorites are very rare because to use a traveling car analogy traveling in a forward direction during a hail storm the front windshield would be getting heavily pelted while the rear window would see little impact. This relates to the spin at that time of day or the earth’s rotation relative to entering atmosphere foreign objects is moving at a vector similar to rear car window impact. To hear two reports like this in less than a month is quite something!

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:40pm

    Incredible indeed; now a question, with the rising accounts of meteors being caught on film is this a abberation in the numbers, or are the numbers the same and we are just getting more on film?

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • lukerw
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:49pm

      Ouch… thinking hurts :)

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • Saywhatonemoretime
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:49pm

      is due to the planetary alignment coming…
      gravitational forces are in flux and moving.

      end of the world …dont know …just an old f art.

      Report Post » Saywhatonemoretime  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 10:21pm

      @Snow
      Everyone is a walking Hollywood studio nowdays with all the cell phones with cameras and audio.

      Report Post » The-Monk  
  • justasurvivor
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:40pm

    There is just so much space junk. Seems we can only speculate what it actually was until they find the remains.

    Report Post »  
  • P4cooler
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:32pm

    Cool stuff….would love to see something that will make me feel alive!

    Report Post » P4cooler  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:58pm

      I’m so sorry…what would make you say something like that? I always, Always Love shooting stars. They remind me there is always always something to wish for! (the really really big ones just mean…you get to make bigger wishes! Get out your wish box…this one was a doosey! )
      Like Axle Rose says in Guns n Roses “November Rain” don’t you cry tonight, there’s a heaven above you baby!
      http://www.vevo.com/watch/guns-n-roses/november-rain/USIV20300654

      Report Post » Teabunny  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:11pm

      Shooting stars always remind me of Ray Bradbury’s very old short story, “Kaleidoscope”. “Make a wish, son, make a wish!”

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 9:32pm

      (kinda dark! ) but…anyway…amen and amen

      Report Post » Teabunny  
  • starman70
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:18pm

    ARE YOU SURE IT WASN’T HARRY REID EXPLODING AT THE THOUGHT OF OBAMACARE BEING OVERTURNED?

    rqd. lc

    Report Post »  
  • marine249
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:11pm

    Look Nancy or Harry next one for you

    Report Post »  
  • Truth1776
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:04pm

    Awesome! Surely someone caught it on some type of film? Would love to see it!

    Report Post » Truth1776  
  • garygromele
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:02pm

    Probably the Chi-Com’s test firing another of their inter-continental nuclear ballistic missiles, you know, just zeroing in on their targets….

    Report Post » garygromele  
    • Patriot of My America
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:12pm

      talk about a liberal take on falling space rocks, just hope none of them are bigger that 1 km in seize. Now that would put your silly notion to rest. Chi-Coms.. Get real. They are making to much money from their imports, and the interest we are paying on the 5 trillion Obummer has borrowed from them.

      Report Post »  
    • yathink
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 8:07pm

      Right. Until they (ChiComs) feel its time to collect.

      Report Post » yathink  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:02pm

    8 am Sunday morning? that would be 10 am here! see what happens when I walk into a church!!!! (Its actually worse when my hubby does! when we were dating, I took him to church with me. We were finishing our smokes, before going in. we opened the car doors, and a large flame burst up next to his leg! actually he set the box of kleenex on fire, we threw it out the car, and all was well….but that should have been my first clue! LOL)

    Report Post » Teabunny  
  • blackyb
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:56pm

    One of those rocks falling from the heavens. Time to look up.

    Report Post » blackyb  
  • abbygirl1994
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:55pm

    Mark 13:25 “And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken”.

    Report Post » abbygirl1994  
    • jaylew
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:20pm

      Respectfully…a meteor is not a star. And one of the most irritating things about taking scripture out of context is that instead of trying to construct a positive conversation….the scripture is taken out of context to conjure up some dire or death filled warning. Any human with brain stem activity knows they are living on borrowed time and that death is inevitable. I understand that the metaphorical use of quoting scripture is meant to trigger mankind into a concern of their own physical mortality as well as their own spiritual eternity. I get all that. This is a meteor entering the earths atmosphere…nothing more…nothing less. It is no more the fulfillment of the scripture you cited than were my hard drive to crash before I hit the send button right now. Scripture misuse and non-contextual citation is what gives the atheists among us fodder for the Jon Stewart show. Meteors are just as important an exhibit of the majesty of the existence of the universe…..as anything else. It is not sinful to maintain a science based mindset regarding cosmic debris. The scripture is much deeper than dire warnings and quasi literal “the sky is falling” explanations. I think I understand why you posted this….I hope you understand why I responded. You scare people with these sort of posts. When in fact just waking up every morning is a result of any number of miraculous overnight events that went on right inside your own slumbering body.

      Report Post » jaylew  
    • justasurvivor
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:37pm

      The truth IS a bit scary. And someone reporting on a prophesy he saw through the eyes of someone living 2000 years ago would relate the vision in words he could understand. It would like like a star falling to him.
      I suggest before criticizing the posting of Scripture, one reads the entire book of Revelation. Nothing was taken out of context here.

      Report Post »  
    • sawbuck
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:48pm

      Luke 19:39-40
      39And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

      40And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

      Report Post » sawbuck  
    • garylee123
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 9:04pm

      @jaylew….Why do you feel the need to tear down someone beliefs with this tirade? Or is it to justify YOUR belief? Do you think you converted anyone? I post knowing I‘m not going to change anyone’s mind, but try and have common sense or a laugh. I have been a thorn in the side of uberlibs since the first postings on AOL and will continue to be.

      Report Post »  
    • PaxInVeritate
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:52am

      JAYLEW… Visit this site: http://bethlehemstar.net/

      Report Post » PaxInVeritate  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:58am

      Falling star?

      When you see ALL THESE THINGS you will know it is at the door! A lone meteor is of no concern unless of course you put it into the larger context of bible prophecy! Its not the only thing thats happening! Nations all over the globe are being cut to pieces with all kinds of things. Fish and mammals alike are perishing for no reasons by the thousands, birds falling from the sky for no apparent causes (still not explained), earthquakes like the one on the East coast where we never have seen them before followed up in one week by a Hurricane, Massive tsunamis, massive outbreaks of tornados, diseases, civil, social unrest not to mention the state of War that exists and rumors of Wars. Impending economic collapse as nations drive debts up, immorality and godlessness on the rise. Put it all together and these are the signs of the times. Don’t look for a transparent ghostly hand of God, look for how he acts using his own creation.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:54pm

    I grew up near an Air Force base and remember the sonic booms. It’s now a sound associated with a bygone era. Like the wind in the TV antennae wires at night. Or the popping of wire screens around the boat shed on a windy day. I can imagine the wonder it must elicit for people who don’t remember the sounds of a different age.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
    • PaxInVeritate
      Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:12am

      Grew up near Mirmar in the early 70′s. Two 8×8 foot windows in the den room. Fuuuuun!

      Report Post » PaxInVeritate  
  • beckwill
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:53pm

    Wow! That would be cool to see.

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:49pm

    We can’t see a damn Meteor coming… but we can predict Global Warming and shut down Oil Rigs?

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:49pm

    . “It happens all the time, but most are in daytime and are missed. This one was extraordinarily bright in the daylight.”

    question: so like meteors wear stop watches, or wristwatches, like they all have little alarm clocks, and only go out during the day, but are home by the time the streetlights come on??? so we have always had what is this like 2 in 10 days, that got coverage…yet they happen all the time…something doesn’t sound right about that. It sounds like the typical “nothing to see here folks” line.

    Report Post » Teabunny  
    • therealconservative
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 7:06pm

      @tea

      “It sounds like the typical “nothing to see here folks” line.”

      Your right, it’s been happening for 4.5 billion years

      Report Post » therealconservative  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 22, 2012 at 10:49pm

      well then, I suppose I could go back …say 10 years, and find several reports of back to back fireballs….?

      Report Post » Teabunny  
  • mrsmileyface
    Posted on April 22, 2012 at 6:49pm

    Great Balls of FIRE!

    Report Post » mrsmileyface  
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