Bright fireball over Massachusetts, U.S.

A bright fireball was seen streaking through the night sky over the northeastern United States at 01:36 UTC on July 20, 2024 (21:36 EDT, July 19).

According to NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO), numerous eyewitnesses in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have filed reports on the American Meteor Society (AMS) website of a bright meteor seen Friday night (LT).

An analysis of these accounts, constrained by a few publicly accessible videos, shows that the fireball appeared at an altitude of 33 km (54 miles) above the town of Arnoldville, Massachusetts, moving northwest at 88 000 km/h (55 000 mph).

The meteor passed over the tristate intersection into New York, where it disintegrated 56 km (35 miles) above Schuylerville after traveling 74 km (46 miles) through the upper atmosphere.

This fireball was not a member of the Southern Delta Aquariid or Perseid meteor showers, according to Dr. Bill Cooke of MEO.

“My friend and I both saw a fireball over upper Manhattan on Friday evening, around 10:00 PM heading Northwest. It was fast and stunning. Also quite beautiful. Nothing like I have ever seen,” Susan Malfitano told us.

Shannon from Lynn Massachusetts also reported seeing the fireball. “I was outside watching a movie with my son and saw a bright streak to my west. At first, I thought it was just the biggest brightest shooting star I had ever seen, I didn’t know it was a very rare fireball. But I am so glad I found this site to confirm what I saw was indeed real and not just fireworks!! I would love to see video or pictures that anyone may have captured of this event.”

“Friday night ~ 9:30 pm I went outside my house with my husband and a friend to look at the Big Dipper,” Beth Galston reported. “Soon after that, we saw a bright trail of light streaking quickly across the sky. Then my view was obscured as it disappeared behind the trees. I live in Carlisle, MA and it’s very dark at night, so we could see it vividly, although briefly. What a wonder!”

“Just saw the craziest meteorite that burned out west of my location in Newburyport, Ma. It was like a shooting star but was way brighter and you could see it burn up. Left a streak in the sky for 5 to 10 seconds after it burned out,” Brian J Murphy reported.

Trish Bauer observed the fireball at 21:36 EDT over Penn Lake Park Boro, PA near White Haven, PA. She described it as ‘beautiful.’

Patrice Brancaccio, from Ellington, CT, said she was taking a picture of the Big Dipper with her iPhone when she saw a big orange and yellow trace in the sky. “The photo I took is just lines as I move the phone away to see it. I do believe one in the lines (the orange one) is the fireball. And the other line the stars.”

If you have videos or more information about this event, please share them in the comments section below or reach out to us using our contact form. Thank you!

The event follows a rare daylight fireball over New York City on July 16, reported to the AMS by 60 people.

An even larger fireball, with an estimated magnitude of -19.5 was recorded over northeastern Brazil on July 13. This fireball was approximately 500 times brighter than the full moon and was compared by the Brazilian Meteor Observation Network (BRAMON) to a small nuclear bomb.

Featured image: Trajectory of Massachusetts fireball on July 20, 2024. Credit: MEO