Latest news with #BillCooke
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Scary' Fireball Seen Shooting Across the Sky Confirmed as Meteor That Exploded with the Force of 20 Tons of TNT: See the Video
Witnesses across southeastern U.S. states reported seeing a 'really scary' fireball moving across the sky on June 26 A NASA expert confirmed to PEOPLE that the object was a meteor, which is a streak of light caused by a small space rock burning up after entering Earth's atmosphere 'It disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT,' NASA saidThe 'scary' fireball that witnesses saw shooting across the sky in southeastern U.S. states on Thursday, June 26, has been identified. Bill Cooke, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office lead, confirmed to PEOPLE that the moving object was a meteor — a streak of light caused by a small space rock burning up after entering Earth's atmosphere. 'The meteor was first seen at an altitude of 48 miles above the town of Oxford, Georgia, moving southwest at 30,000 miles per hour,' Cooke said in a statement, adding that his team analyzed eyewitness accounts and camera, satellite, infrasound and doppler weather radar data. 'It disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT. The resulting pressure wave propagated to the ground, creating booms heard by many in that area,' Cooke continued. He added in the statement that the meteor was produced by an asteroidal fragment that was 3 feet in diameter and weighed more than a ton. CBS Mornings reported that at least 20 fireball events have been tracked worldwide in 2025, per NASA's Center for Near Earth Objects Studies. Georgia resident Melanie Whitlock told Atlanta news station WSB-TV that feeling the meteor's sonic boom 'was really, really scary.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Her daughter, Amber Hudson, also recalled to the outlet, 'I was even shaking, like, back and forth, and then I was just hearing like the banging sound or whatever, and even a water bottle fell off my nightstand.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Scary' Fireball Seen Shooting Across the Sky Confirmed as Meteor That Exploded with the Force of 20 Tons of TNT: See the Video
Witnesses across southeastern U.S. states reported seeing a 'really scary' fireball moving across the sky on June 26 A NASA expert confirmed to PEOPLE that the object was a meteor, which is a streak of light caused by a small space rock burning up after entering Earth's atmosphere 'It disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT,' NASA saidThe 'scary' fireball that witnesses saw shooting across the sky in southeastern U.S. states on Thursday, June 26, has been identified. Bill Cooke, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office lead, confirmed to PEOPLE that the moving object was a meteor — a streak of light caused by a small space rock burning up after entering Earth's atmosphere. 'The meteor was first seen at an altitude of 48 miles above the town of Oxford, Georgia, moving southwest at 30,000 miles per hour,' Cooke said in a statement, adding that his team analyzed eyewitness accounts and camera, satellite, infrasound and doppler weather radar data. 'It disintegrated 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT. The resulting pressure wave propagated to the ground, creating booms heard by many in that area,' Cooke continued. He added in the statement that the meteor was produced by an asteroidal fragment that was 3 feet in diameter and weighed more than a ton. CBS Mornings reported that at least 20 fireball events have been tracked worldwide in 2025, per NASA's Center for Near Earth Objects Studies. Georgia resident Melanie Whitlock told Atlanta news station WSB-TV that feeling the meteor's sonic boom 'was really, really scary.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Her daughter, Amber Hudson, also recalled to the outlet, 'I was even shaking, like, back and forth, and then I was just hearing like the banging sound or whatever, and even a water bottle fell off my nightstand.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What is a fireball, and how often does rare event occur? See known SC meteorites
The American Meteor Society received over 160 reports in the Southeast − including South Carolina and Georgia − of a fiery object streaking through the skies on June 26. The object, identified later on as a fireball, "exploded 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT," according to CBS News. Bill Cooke, a lead at NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, confirmed the fireball, observed before 12:30 p.m., was 3 feet in diameter, weighing more than a ton. No injuries have been reported due to the fireball, although a home in Henry County, Georgia, was struck by debris suspected to be related to the meteor. Here's the difference between a fireball and meteor. Per FossilEra, a meteor is often called a "shooting star" or "falling star" since they appear as a streak of light, produced when a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes due to the intense heat caused by friction with air. A meteor is a visible atmospheric phenomenon that results from the meteor's swift entry and disintegration, meaning it is not a physical object. A fireball is a meteor that is significantly brighter than normal meteors, outshining planet Venus. Ground-level rumbles known as sonic booms occur when a fireball explodes, according to EBSCO. Only a small number of meteors that enter the Earth's atmosphere are classified as fireballs. Each day, several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth's atmosphere, and the majority of them are difficult to observe since they take place over the oceans and uninhabited regions, with many masked by daylight, per the American Meteor Society. Fireballs that occur at night have less of a chance of being seen because there aren't as many people outside to notice them. "Additionally, the brighter the fireball, the more rare is the event. As a general thumb rule, there are only about 1/3 as many fireballs present for each successfully brighter magnitude class, following an exponential decrease." said the American Meteor Society. "Experienced observers can expect to see only about 1 fireball of magnitude -6 or better for every 200 hours of meteor observing, while a fireball magnitude -4 can be expected about once every 20 hours or so." Meteorites are fragments of space rocks like asteroids or comets that survive passing through Earth's atmosphere, landing on the surface. Before entering the atmosphere, they are called meteoroids, and can vary in size from tiny dust grains to large asteroids. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources listed the following records regarding meteorite occurrence within the state on their website: 1843: Achondrite, Bishopville 1844: Octahedrite, Ruff's Mountain, Newberry County 1849: Ataxite, Chesterville 1857: Octahedrite, Laurens County 1880: Octahedrite, Lexington County 1933: Chondrite, Cherokee Springs The Greenville News reached out to NASA for a comment for this story, but did not receive a response. Nina Tran covers trending topics for The Greenville News. Reach her via email at ntran@ This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Fireball and meteor: The difference, how to tell them apart
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fireball may bring memories of past meteorites that fell in Florida
The American Meteor Society received nearly 150 reports of a meteor flashing through the daytime sky Thursday, June 26. Most of the reports were from Georgia and South Carolina, but a few reported seeing the fireball from Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. It's possible the "rock" that hit a Georgia home was meteorite associated with the fireball. Meteorites aren't very common in Florida, but there have been documented reports over the last 100 years, including three in this century, according to The Meteoritical Society. The NWS station in Peachtree City, Georgia, posted on Facebook, "It appears that either a meteor or space junk crossed the skies of north Georgia just before 12:30 p.m." June 26. The American Meteor Society logged more than 200 witness reports from North Florida up to North Carolina and Tennessee of a bright streak in the sky. Most of the reports were in northeastern Georgia and western South Carolina, at around 12:21 p.m. ET. Bill Cooke, the chief of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told The New York Times and local news outlets the meteor was about 3 feet in diameter and weighed more than 1 ton The Peachtree National Weather Service said "a citizen reported that a 'rock' fell through their ceiling around the time of the reports of the 'earthquake.'" "We are presuming that a piece of the object fell through their roof," the Peachtree NWS said. "Henry County EMA also reported that the object broke through the roof, then the ceiling, before cracking the laminate on the floor and stopping." While not as common as neighboring states, meteorites have been reported in Florida. The Meteoritical Society lists the following: Okechobee, 1916 2.2 pounds Eustis, 1918 1.1 pounds Bonita Springs, 1938 92 pounds Grayton, 1983 24.9 pounds Orlando, 2004 .39 pounds Tiger Tail, 2015 .08 pounds Osceola, 2016 In total, eight stones were found with a combined weight of 2.4 pounds A "confirmed fall" followed a "large daytime fireball (that) streaked across the sky in northern Florida" on Jan. 24, 2016. Designated as Osceola, eight meteorites were found in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area west of Jacksonville, with a combined weight of 2.4 pounds, according to The Meteoritical Society ➤ See photos A meteoroid is a rock in space. It becomes a meteor when it enters Earth's atmosphere and is commonly called a "shooting star" or "fireball." If it hits the ground, it's a meteorite, NASA said. "Scientists estimate about 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day," according to NASA. "Almost all the material is vaporized in Earth's atmosphere, leaving a bright trail fondly called 'shooting stars.' "Several meteors per hour can usually be seen on any given night. Sometimes the number increases dramatically —these events are called meteor showers." The Bootid meteor shower is an unpredictable shower that peaks today, June 27, although it'll remain active until about July 2, according to The best times to catch the Bootid meteor shower are a couple of hours before dawn and after sunset, according to Forbes. Contributing: Eric Lagatta, C.A. Bridges, USA Today Network-Florida This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Fireball in the sky: List of meteorites that hit Florida
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
People reported earthquakes and fire in the sky. It was probably a meteor.
People in the southeastern United States on Thursday, June 26, reported a fireball in the sky and rumbling on the ground, an unsettling combination that was probably a meteor, according to various agencies. Reports of sightings flooded the American Meteor Society around 12:30 p.m. And the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, said residents reported what felt like earthquakes around that time. Bill Cooke, the chief of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told The New York Times and local news outlets that the flying space rock was about three feet in diameter and weighed more than one ton. (The USA TODAY Network left a message with the Marshall Space Flight Center seeking more information.) And the earthquake reports? Those were likely sonic booms, the brief, thunder-like noises when a spacecraft, aircraft or space rocks travel faster than the speed of sound, the local weather service office said. The awesome sight likely wasn't entirely harmless: Remnants of the cosmic object may have broken off and plummeted through the roof of a home in Henry County, Georgia, according to the local National Weather Service office. The weather service, citing the Henry County Emergency Management agency, said a resident south of Atlanta reported that a "rock" fell through their roof, broke through the ceiling and cracked the home's laminate flooring. Because the incident occurred around the time sightings were happening, "we are presuming that a piece of the object fell through their roof." The fireball that caught the attention of people across the southeastern United States is presumed to be from a meteor fragmenting in the sky, according to meteorologists and other experts. The American Meteor Society received nearly 150 reports of a meteor bright enough to be seen streaking across the midday sky beginning around noon local time Thursday, June 26. Most of the reports were from Georgia and South Carolina, but a few witnessed the object in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. The National Weather Service office in Charleston said on Facebook that its satellite-based, lightning-detection system showed 'a streak within cloud free sky' over Gasburg, Virginia, near the state's border with North Carolina. Rocks in space are known as meteoroids. If those space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere, they become meteors that streak across the sky in events colloquially referred to as "shooting stars." Meteors – or fragments of them – that survive their atmospheric trip and land on the surface without burning up become meteorites, according to NASA. What many witnessed recently was a very bright meteor known as a fireball. It's relatively rare for fireballs to be sighted on Earth, especially during the daytime, as the objects generally have to be at least as bright as Venus to be visible to the naked eye, according to the American Meteor Society. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Meteor responsible for earthquake and fireball reports, experts say
