Very bright fireball over Tennessee, U.S.
A bright fireball was seen streaking through the night sky over Tennessee, U.S at around 03:17 UTC on December 1, 2021 (21:19 CST on November 30).
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has so far received 40 reports from the southeastern states and 1 video of the event.1
The fireball was detected by all 5 NASA meteor cameras in the region.
An analysis of the video shows that the object – a piece of a comet about 30 cm (1 foot) in diameter and weighing approximately 27 kg (60 pounds) – began to ablate 88 km (55 miles) above some fields south of the town of Hillsboro in middle Tennessee.2
Moving southwest at 100 000 km/h (62 000 mph), the meteor only managed to travel some 43 km (27 miles) through the atmosphere before disintegrating 35 km (22 miles) above Tims Ford State Park.
At its peak, the fireball was brighter than the Full Moon, explaining why it was seen in several states.
Image credit: AMS
References:
1 Fireball event 8372-2021 – AMS
2 NASA Meteor Watch
Featured image: Fireball over Tennessee on November 30, 2021. Credit: NASA Meteor Watch
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We walked around 11pm+ and stopped top of hill at a clearing at the precise moment that we described as a BALL OF FIRE SHOOTING ACROSS THE SKY lasting approx. 8-10seconds. Breathtaking !! We timed it by our conversation during the watch. Just across Loudon Bridge. I have since taken pictures of day light comets I assume. Several in a few minutes. I didn’t see them I was capturing the sun large white sun coming up that looked unusual. August I think I have it recorded in a journal. WOW!! NO OTHER WORD.
I saw this over Old Hickory, TN. It was INCREDIBLE and what I saw was MUCH LARGER than on video.