Brilliant fireball explodes over the eastern U.S.
A bright fireball streaked across the night sky over the eastern U.S. at around 23:30 UTC (18:30 LT) on October 31, 2020. The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 247 reports from eyewitnesses, most of whom described the object as the "brightest" and "biggest" they have seen.
Based on the trajectory map, the fireball traveled from a northwest to southeast direction and was visible from an area in Frankfort to North Middletown, Kentucky.
The AMS received 247 eyewitness reports from Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, the Virginias, as far north as Michigan, and as far south as Georgia.
"[It was] a very bright ball, went straight down to a point," said a watcher from Louisville, adding that it was "much bigger than any shooting star I have ever seen."
"This was seen while trick or treating," shared a viewer in Seymour, who described the fireball as big, beautiful, and bright.
This video of the fireball is from April Bishop in Hayden. Started burning up about 51 miles above Jacksonville AL moving to the west of south at 44,800 miles per hour. Looks like it disintegrated 20 miles above Eastaboga (between Pell City and Anniston) shortly before 6p CT pic.twitter.com/NYJOinyZRk
— James Spann (@spann) November 2, 2020
Halloween fireball captured by the still undefeated #DamCam @NASA #StormHour @edmonsonvoice pic.twitter.com/USr1vq3W8E
— wxo☈notBG (@wxornotBG) October 31, 2020
A watcher from Greensburg said, "it seemed like it was falling forever and changed colors going down."
"The moon was full and I was driving straight towards the moon. This large green ball streaked right across the moon and seemed to go down to earth behind a tree line," a witness from Central City shared.
"I can’t believe I witnessed this green like a line shoot down from the ski! I really did see it," exclaimed a viewer from Bowling Green.
An observer in Baxter, Tennessee, attested that the fireball emitted various colors as it exploded into the sky. "[It was an] awesome experience, especially the colors at the end as it burned out."
Image credit: AMS
Featured image credit: Jason Sears
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Me and My GF was driving back from Cherokee NC and as we crossed the mountain Into TN we saw this fireball go across the the sky. It was huge.