Fiery meteor traveling 30,000 mph lands near Georgia town, NASA reveals details

NASA has shared what they know after many people in the Southeast filed reports of a fiery ball falling from the sky on Thursday. Key information:A fiery object was seen falling from the sky around 12:21 p.m. ThursdayThe meteor was traveling at a rate of 30,000 mphThe fireball was produced by an asteroidal fragment weighing about a tonThe event was reported in at least five statesThe meteorite landed near Blacksville, GeorgiaAccording to NASA, the object that fell from the skies landed near Blacksville, Georgia, which is in Henry County. The event was seen by the GLM (Geostationary Lightning Mapper) sensors, NOAA GOES satellites, and many residents from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina.The fall appears in data from five different NEXRAD (Next Generation Weather Radar) and TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar) radars. A composite image of radar signatures can be found below.According to Bill Cooke, lead, NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the meteor was first seen at an altitude of 48 miles above the town of Oxford, Georgia, moving southwest at 30,000 miles per hour.Cooke said the meteor disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT.For comparison, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, nicknamed “Fat Man,” had an explosive yield equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT. The resulting pressure wave propagated to the ground, creating booms heard by many in that area.Cooke added that the fireball was produced by an asteroidal fragment 3 feet in diameter, weighing over a ton. It is also worth noting that a minor meteor shower is currently passing through the atmosphere. June Bootids typically lasts from June 11 to July 2 with its peak occurring usually around June 21, according to the American Meteor Society.This type of meteor shower only produces strong activities on rare occasions and is typically observed with rates of one visible meteor a night. It is also best seen during the evening hours.WYFF News 4 talked with Astrophysicist David Moffett, who oversees Furman University’s planetarium and observatory, said, “I thought maybe this is associated with the meteor shower, like the current one, but it’s not.””The thing is that time ranges when those meteors could occur,” Moffett said. “It could be associated with that meteor shower, or it could just be a completely random instance.”Video from White Horse Road in Greenville and from Anderson show the fireball falling from the sky at 12:21 p.m. Kathryn Farr was on I-85 in Anderson County when she took this video below: Caleb Holland sent this video below in from Anderson: The National Weather Service in Charleston previously said the following “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 WYFF News 4 newsroom started getting calls about 12:30 about a “fiery ball” falling from the sky. David Pepper provided video from White Horse Road that shows something falling from the sky at 12:21 p.m. Watch video below. You can see it about 10 seconds into the video. We have seen reports of the sightings in Georgia and Tennessee. Earlier, the NOAA Satellite & Information Service said:”There have been many reports of a #fireball streaking across the southeastern U.S. this afternoon! The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (#GLM) on @NOAA’s #GOES satellites can occasionally detect these bright meteors (aka #bolides) when they pass through the atmosphere. See the quick flash #GOESEast captured around the Virginia/North Carolina border today. #GOES19″

BLACKSVILLE, Ga. —

NASA has shared what they know after many people in the Southeast filed reports of a fiery ball falling from the sky on Thursday.

Key information:

• A fiery object was seen falling from the sky around 12:21 p.m. Thursday
• The meteor was traveling at a rate of 30,000 mph
• The fireball was produced by an asteroidal fragment weighing about a ton
• The event was reported in at least five states
• The meteorite landed near Blacksville, Georgia

According to NASA, the object that fell from the skies landed near Blacksville, Georgia, which is in Henry County.

The event was seen by the GLM (Geostationary Lightning Mapper) sensors, NOAA GOES satellites, and many residents from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

The fall appears in data from five different NEXRAD (Next Generation Weather Radar) and TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar) radars. A composite image of radar signatures can be found below.

According to Bill Cooke, lead, NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the meteor was first seen at an altitude of 48 miles above the town of Oxford, Georgia, moving southwest at 30,000 miles per hour.

Cooke said the meteor disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT.

For comparison, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, nicknamed “Fat Man,” had an explosive yield equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT.

The resulting pressure wave propagated to the ground, creating booms heard by many in that area.

Cooke added that the fireball was produced by an asteroidal fragment 3 feet in diameter, weighing over a ton.

It is also worth noting that a minor meteor shower is currently passing through the atmosphere. June Bootids typically lasts from June 11 to July 2 with its peak occurring usually around June 21, according to the American Meteor Society.

This type of meteor shower only produces strong activities on rare occasions and is typically observed with rates of one visible meteor a night. It is also best seen during the evening hours.

WYFF News 4 talked with Astrophysicist David Moffett, who oversees Furman University’s planetarium and observatory, said, “I thought maybe this is associated with the meteor shower, like the current one, but it’s not.”

“The thing is that time ranges when those meteors could occur,” Moffett said. “It could be associated with that meteor shower, or it could just be a completely random instance.”

Video from White Horse Road in Greenville and from Anderson show the fireball falling from the sky at 12:21 p.m.