Social media sites were buzzing today as people across the southeastern United States reported seeing a fireball streaking from the sky. Many witnesses also reported a loud noise and feeling the Earth was shaking. Here’s what we know about what fell from the sky and why it made the ground shake.
Fireballs are frequently reported and today is certainly no exception. The American Meteor Society fielded reports throughout the day on its website. While many experts believe that it was likely a meteor, there has been no conclusive determination at the time of writing. Other possibilities include a piece of space debris re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Although many other theories were quite amusing on social media. Speaking of the atmosphere, meteorologists study weather but are often asked about meteors. Trust me, I am a witness. I typically defer questions about them to astronomers. In this case, however, the National Weather Service has provided some interesting information about the event.
The NWS Atlanta office posted on Facebook, “Did you feel that today? Many in north Georgia not only felt it, but saw it. It appears that either a meteor or space junk crossed the skies of north Georgia just before 12:30 PM…. Reports of an earthquake came in shortly after, followed by sightings and video of a flash across the sky seen as far away as Macon and Upstate South Carolina.” More on what caused earthquake reports later, but let’s address what causes these fireballs?
According to the American Meteor Society website, “A fireball is an unusually bright meteor that reaches a visual magnitude of -3 or brighter when seen at the observer’s zenith.” Because of friction, an object entering the atmosphere is rapidly heated and is also slowed down. The physics associated with such interactions cause the appearance of fireball. The website goes on to say, “Fireballs that explode in the atmosphere are technically referred to as bolides although the terms fireballs and bolides are often used interchangeably.”
The fiery appearance and fragmentation of the object are not the only thing that can happen. The NWS Atlanta post noted, “That earthquake you felt was the result of the sonic boom from the meteor or space junk.” A sonic boom is caused by shockwaves that build up as an object breaks the sound barrier. According to Livescience, “The speed of sound varies depending on the temperature of the air through which the sound moves…. The speed of sound at sea level — assuming an air temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) — is 761.2 mph.” Sound moves faster in warmer air, and it was certainly hot today in the U.S. South.
The current generation of U.S. geostationary weather satellites carry a lightning detection instrument. The map below shows lightning flashes across the U.S. around dinner time June 26, 2025. NWS reported that the Global Lightning Mapper” also saw the fireball today. They wrote, “(GLM) looks for flashes high in the sky (i.e. lightning) which also happened to occur with this object and mimic the effect of lightning, so the object was detected by the lightning network.
