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On Sunday evening, a spectacular fireball lit up the night sky, captivating eyewitnesses across more than a dozen states. At precisely 10:26 p.m., the blazing meteor streaked overhead, its passage recorded by three NASA meteor cameras.
NASA reports that the space rock first appeared above Tupelo, Mississippi, traveling northwest at an astonishing speed of 56,000 miles per hour. The meteor’s fiery journey spanned roughly 300 miles before it burned up approximately 34 miles above the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri.
A traveler in Brentwood, Tennessee, caught the dazzling display on their dashcam, capturing the meteor as it quickly zipped across the sky. According to the American Meteor Society, sightings of the fireball extended across a wide swath of states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
Experts note that this fireball was about 16 times brighter than Venus, making it a truly remarkable celestial event. NASA explains that such fireballs occur when meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds and burn up; however, this particular object was too small and fast to produce meteorites on the ground.
This stunning meteor provided an unforgettable show for stargazers and serves as a reminder of the dynamic activity continuously unfolding above us.