Bright daylight meteor over Iowa and Illinois, US
Image credit: D.Bush
A bright daylight meteor streaked across the sky over Iowa and Illinois, US at 01:40 UTC on July 9 (08:40 CDT, July 8). The event lasted between 7 and 20 seconds.
The American Meteor Association (AMS) has so far received 189 reports. The fireball was seen from Iowa and Illinois to Minnesota, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.
11 people reported sound associated with this event while 79 reported fragmentation.
Image credit: AMS, Google
The estimated 3D trajectory computed by the AMS from the witness reports shows a shallow entry angle, one that could be associated with an Earth-grazing fireball. However, many witnesses reported fragmentation, suggesting the meteoroid actually went through the Earth atmosphere.
Image credit: AMS
Fireball over Iowa and Illinois on July 9, 2018. Credit: AMS/D.Bush
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.
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