Fireball seen as meteorite streaks through sky over Georgia and South Carolina

A fireball, oregon a agleam meteorite, was seen crossed the southeastern United States connected Thursday and aboriginal exploded implicit Georgia, creating booms heard by residents successful the area, according to NASA.

The American Meteor Society said it received much than 160 reports of a fireball sighting from observers successful Georgia and South Carolina astatine 12:25 p.m. ET. The meteor was archetypal seen astatine an altitude of 48 miles supra the municipality of Oxford, Georgia, moving southwest astatine 30,000 miles per hour, said Bill Cooke, a pb astatine NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. 

The fireball aboriginal exploded 27 miles supra West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an vigor of astir 20 tons of TNT. Cooke said the fireball was 3 feet successful diameter and weighed much than a ton (2,000 pounds).

"The resulting unit question propagated to the ground, creating booms heard by galore successful that area," Cooke said successful a statement. 

This NOAA outer image, shared by NASA, shows wherever a meteorite streaked done the entity implicit Georgia. Sightings were besides reported successful neighboring South Carolina.  NOAA/NASA

When a abstraction stone enters the ambiance connected its ain and burns up, it's called a meteor. It's a meteorite if it survives the travel and makes interaction with the crushed earlier burning up. Those that look particularly agleam are called fireballs, according to NASA. 

This daylight fireball connected Thursday could beryllium a subordinate of the Beta Taurid meteor shower, which includes meteors that are seldom seen and are typically progressive from precocious June to aboriginal July, peaking astir June 25, said Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society.

"I would estimation that we person reports of 1 daylight lawsuit per period from each implicit the world," Lunsford told CBS News. "I would accidental 1 retired [of] each 700 fireball events involves a fireball seen during daylight hours. So these events are rare, and astir radical spell a beingness without seeing one."

A fireball during the evening was seen implicit immense sections of the eastbound U.S. and parts of Canada successful February 2024.