© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
Did You See a Fireball Streak Across the Sky This Weekend? You're Not Alone
An image of the fireball streaking through Ohio. (Image via YouTube video screenshot)

Did You See a Fireball Streak Across the Sky This Weekend? You're Not Alone

"It almost looked like somebody took a flare and threw it across our windshield."

Several states have been treated to fireball sightings over the weekend and late last week.

Saturday, those in the South saw a flash from a flaming space rock only a few inches in size.

"It looks like the meteor originated over North Alabama in the Gadsen/Fort Payne area, and moved east southeast, finally burning up over Atlanta," Dr. Bill Cooke with NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office told Al.com. "The images and the video lead me to estimate the fireball's brightness to be similar to the crescent moon, which means the meteoroid was a few inches in diameter."

More than 200 people in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina reported seeing the meteor, according to the American Meteor Society.

atlanta meteor map A map showing where reports of the Sept. 28 meteor sighting were reported. (Image: AMS)

Here's a look at video taken of the event:

Late Friday night, Ohioans and some in West Virginia, Indiana and other states, spotted another space rock burning up as it blazed through Earth's atmosphere.

Ohio fireball An image of the fireball streaking through Ohio. (Image via YouTube video screenshot)

The AMS called Friday's sighting its "third most reported event of all time," with more than 450 witness reports by the time of its posting.

ohio fireball sightings Reports of the fireball near Ohio were seen over several states. (Image: AMS)

“We were sitting there, and the whole sky lit up with this big green streak,”  Sandi Poyer of Pickerington, Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch of the sighting. “It left a big trail, kind of like a vapor trail."

Watch the Ohio fireball as filmed by NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office:

Here's another view taken from a Sandusky, Ohio, security camera:

This event was superseded in terms of number of reports by an Indiana sighting the day before, which garnered more than 730 reports, according to AMS.

"My photographer was like, 'Holy cow, did you see that?'" WGN-TV helicopter pilot Mike Sypien said of Thursday's early morning sighting, according to the Chicago Tribune. "It was very vivid. It was very bright. It almost looked like somebody took a flare and threw it across our windshield."

"I've been flying over 14 years," he continued. "I've never seen anything like that. You could not have missed it, I'll tell you."

Check out this fireball:

Have any fireball sightings over the weekend? Send your pictures and videos to lklimas@theblaze.com.

(H/T: io9)

--

[related]

Want to leave a tip?

We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?