A bright white and green streak tore across the pre-dawn sky over parts of Maryland early Wednesday, with witnesses reporting a vivid fireball visible over Waldorf, Accokeek and Indian Head. The Charles County Sheriff’s Office said it received one report of a brief green flash and no additional calls, though it did not confirm the object’s identity.
The sighting was far from confined to Charles County. According to The BayNet, security and doorbell cameras across Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia — including Accokeek, Prince Frederick, Dale City and Manassas Park — recorded the same green-and-white fireball flash at approximately 2:38 a.m., with some Virginia residents reporting a loud explosion-like boom around 2:40 a.m. In Charles County, the fireball was reported to have occurred around 2:50 a.m., per FOX 5 DC, while other reports placed sightings around 2:38 a.m. and 2:40 a.m.
One Charles County resident, Fred-Star Suave Velez, shared video of the event with FOX 5, showing the fireball reflected across a rear windshield before the green flash disappeared after appearing briefly. The station’s report notes that witnesses described seeing a bright white and green streak in the sky, matching accounts collected elsewhere in the region.
Cameras Caught It Miles Away
The flash wasn’t limited to Southern Maryland. A doorbell camera captured video of the bright celestial flash streaking across the sky. That footage, combined with the Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia recordings, suggests the fireball was visible across a wide swath of the Mid-Atlantic in the same narrow window before dawn.
Timing Lines Up With a Meteor Shower’s Peak
The overnight flash arrived just as the September Epsilon Perseid meteor shower reached its peak, under a dark, nearly moonless sky ahead of the September 10 new moon, per the Farmers’ Almanac. The Farmers’ Almanac described the period as favorable for seeing faint stars and shooting stars…