A bright meteor, also known as a fireball, shattered in the sky over three states in the United States, causing a loud explosion.
More than 30 people in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi reported seeing a special bright meteor in the sky around 8 AM on April 27, after hearing loud explosions in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and surrounding areas, according to reports from NASA, as cited by The Guardian.
Officials stated that the meteor was first detected at an altitude of 87 kilometers over the Mississippi River, near Alcorn, Mississippi.
“This is one of the most beautiful events I’ve seen in the Geostationary Lightning Mappers data (a satellite imaging tool),” said Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Meteor streak in the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower in August 2021. (Photo: Shutterstock).
The object, referred to by scientists as a fireball, traveled southwest at a speed of approximately 88,513 km/h, plummeting from the sky and breaking apart into many pieces as it entered deeper into the Earth’s atmosphere.
It disintegrated in a dazzling display of light at an altitude of 55 kilometers over a swamp area, north of Concordia Parish, Minorca in Louisiana.
A witness told the Vicksburg Post that she heard a loud noise. Then, she looked up and saw a “large orange fireball, the size of a basketball, with a white tail,” heading west over the Mississippi River.
The Claiborne County Emergency Management Agency posted a statement on Facebook confirming the reports and noting that the nearby nuclear power plant was not involved.
“The Grand Gulf Nuclear Station is safe. There is no threat to the county,” according to the agency’s post.
NASA stated that the disintegration of the fireball generated enough energy to create shockwaves that propagated down to the ground, causing residents to feel the explosion and tremors in the area.
NASA also noted that at its peak, the fireball was ten times brighter than a full moon.
