Fireball — seen from several states —traveled 51,000 mph, NASA says. See its path
A fireball blazing through the sky the night of Aug. 22 was spotted across several states, NASA said.
Over 200 people in 13 states — Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia — could see the fireball around 9:45 p.m. Eastern time.
The “bright” meteor, however, only flew approximately 30 miles over the Kentucky skies, according to an Aug. 23 Facebook post from NASA Meteor Watch.
Visibility started at about 53 miles above Clementsville in central Kentucky, barreling at a speed of 51,000 mph southwest of the town, NASA said.
The fiery meteor traveled about 30 miles to the town of Exie before it disintegrated, according to the post.
“The breakup of the fireball unleashed an energy of about 10 tons of TNT, which generated a pressure wave that traveled to the ground; this wave is responsible for the noises heard by some eyewitnesses,” NASA said.
Officials say the fireball originated from a meteoroid that was about 20 inches in diameter, weighing in at 400 pounds.
It is unknown if meteorites were on the ground, according to the post.
Exie is about a 40-mile drive southwest of Clementsville, which is about a 70-mile drive southwest of Lexington.
This story was originally published August 23, 2024 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Fireball — seen from several states —traveled 51,000 mph, NASA says. See its path."
