Panic as ball of fire is seen streaking through the sky in multiple U.S. states
A flaming object was seen streaking across the skies of several southern states in the U.S. on Thursday afternoon, and the fireball sparked panic and confusion because no explosion or blaze had been reported on the ground.
Police scanner audio in Spartanburg, South Carolina, captured a call from a woman who reported a 'giant ball of fire' falling from the sky, a sight echoed by witnesses from Tennessee to Georgia.
A firefighter wrote on X: 'I'm not crazy! I just saw a huge ball of fire fall from the sky in East Tennessee around the Cherokee National Forest! Anyone else see it? Right around 12:20pm ET. Very cool but a little unnerving given the current times!'
Great ball of fire! A flaming object was seen in the skies over several southern U.S. states
While some speculated it could have been a falling aircraft, the firefighter on X described it as being 'like a mini sun falling with a tail of fire'.
In Georgia, one resident said they not only saw the object but heard it pass overhead and felt the ground shake when it hit.
The National Weather Service confirmed the numerous reports across Southeast U.S. and said: 'It is not certain, but the satellite-based lightning detection shows a streak within cloud-free sky over the NC/VA border, over Gasbury, VA.
'This streak was detected between 12.51 to 12:56pm.'
Meteorologist Brad Panovich said: 'Looking at the videos, this is very low in the atmosphere. I am curious if this was a piece of space debris, a rocket body or degrading space junk.
'For something to be that bright in the middle of the day, it was most likely burning up in the atmosphere. If it were a meteor, it would have had to be very large to be that bright in the middle of the day.'
A driver traveling on Interstate 85 in Upstate South Carolina filmed the fireball falling through the sky on their dashcam.
A post on X read: 'Weird atmospheric sounds in GA today. Sounded like a fireball or rocket burning through the sky, shaking the house... followed by two or three helicopters not listed on the Flightradar.'
Hundreds of reports of a possible fireball were submitted to the American Meteor Society's website from Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
One fireball report on the American Meteor Society from Perry, Georgia, read: 'This was the middle of the day, and it just came out of nowhere.'
A report submitted by another Georgia resident said: 'I thought it was a missile.'
Another comment added: 'It was full daylight, no clouds, and still it was very bright. I heard a muffled and slight boom sound, maybe 30 seconds later, but that could be unrelated.'
On Facebook, a witness added: 'Stone Mountain here and it made a booming sound, house shook with a long rumble. Dogs went crazy.'
Another Georgia local posted: 'House totally rumbled, sounded like a log rolling off the roof - thought nukes were coming...'
Atlanta news source WRDW reported that black smoke was seen south of Interstate 20, although first responders said it could have been from a controlled burn.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it had 'no reports of unusual aircraft activity in the area', according to Atlanta News First.
There were no immediate reports of damage linked to the fireball, and it's unclear whether the wide range of sightings were caused by multiple fragments from the same potential meteor.
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