Bright fireball over South Carolina
Featured image: Bright, long-lasting fireball over South Carolina - April 2017. Credit: Earl Ayers
A bright, long-lasting fireball was seen across the sky over South Carolina at 00:45 UTC on April 13, 2017 (20:45 EDT, April 12). Witnesses described a bright, white light lasting for about 10 seconds. Many said the object left a long tail.
The event was seen primarily from South Carolina but people from Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennesee, and Alabama also reported seeing the fireball.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 190 witness reports by 11:47 UTC. 6 of them said sound was associated with the event while 25 observed fragmentation.
Based on the received reports, the AMS plotted the preliminary estimated trajectory. It shows the object was traveling from the northeast to the southwest and ended its visible flight near Longs in Horry County, South Carolina.
Fireball over South Carolina, April 2017 – Heatmap. Credit: AMS
South Carolina fireball, 3-D estimated trajectory- April 2017. Credit: AMS
Caught meteor on Nest Cam this evening @wxbrad pic.twitter.com/M89yESw590
— Earl Ayers (@AyersEarl) April 13, 2017
Here it is! #Fireball #Meteor video from Gwinnett dashcam from Bobby Hokett. pic.twitter.com/5OJLVwPqln
— ChrisHolcomb11Alive (@ChrisHolcomb) April 13, 2017
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
