Fireball Spotted Flying Over North Carolina Sky; Meteor Traveling at 32,000 Mph

On Friday, the American Meteor Society has shared stunning footage recorded from a home's foyer in Rowland Pond, North Carolina. A giant fireball meteor appears to have fallen from the sky in the footage.

According to NASA Meteor Watch, several meteors that appeared like fireballs dropped over on the coast of North Carolina at 7:40 p.m. EDT. Residents in the same area reported at least five additional fireballs following the initial one.

NASA said the state was engulfed by meteors traveling at 32,000 mph at the height of 48 miles over the ocean in Jacksonville. Meteoroids often hit the Earth's atmosphere at speeds ranging from 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour. However, as they travel and penetrate the atmosphere, they shatter slower and smaller.

According to CBS News, it flew 26 miles through Earth's upper atmosphere before breaking up 28 miles over Morehead City. Meteors brighter than Venus are what these fireballs are classed as.

A total of 150 individuals in North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia have reported seeing fireballs and meteors in their states. Furthermore, the most recent celestial occurrence in North Carolina had the largest number of eyewitness testimonies, with over 80 persons reporting it.

ALSO READ: Giant Meteor Lights Up The Sky Over France, United Kingdom

Fireball Meteor Explained: What Is It?

A bright meteor, often known as a fireball, is a meteor that shines at magnitude -4, the same magnitude as planet Venus emits in the evening or early sky.

Every day, thousands of meteors the size of a fireball strike the Earth's atmosphere. Many of the fireballs that fall through Earth's atmosphere, however, occur in unpopulated areas and the ocean, and many of them are hidden during the day. The significantly lesser amount of individuals out to view them is a major role in its rarity of being caught at night.

Furthermore, the rarity of these occurrences is highly dependent on the brightness of the heavenly bodies. According to the American Meteor Society, there are only 13 times as many fireballs for each successively higher luminous magnitude class after a drastic fall-off.

A fireball with a magnitude of -4 can be seen once every 20 hours, on average. On the other hand, a fireball with a magnitude of -6 might be seen with an estimated 200 hours of meteor observation.

It is suggested that anybody who has seen a brilliant meteor report their sighting to the AMS. It is extremely possible to recognize the route of the item in question in situations where a large number of witnesses record the same sighting in different trajectories.

In conjunction with other meteor groups, the group collects meteor reports from within the nation and worldwide.