Panic as flaming object seen streaking through sky in multiple states,
A flaming object was seen streaking across the skies of several southern states, sparking panic and confusion as no explosion or fire was 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.
‘I’m not crazy! I just saw a huge ball of fire fall from the sky in East Tennessee around the Cherokee National Forest!’ a firefighter wrote on X.
‘Anyone else see it? Right around 12:20pm ET. Very cool but a little unnerving given the current times!’
While some speculated it could have been a falling aircraft, the firefighter described it as ‘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 many reports across the Southeast US saying: ‘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 12:56 pm.’
Weather Impact Chief 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 I-85 SB in Upstate South Carolina captured the fireball falling through the sky using their dashcam.
‘Weird atmospheric sounds in GA today. Sounded like a fireball or rocket burning through the sky, shaking the house… followed by 2 or 3 helicopters not listed on the Flight Radar,’ an X user shared shortly after the incident.
Hundreds of reports of a possible fireball were submitted to the American Meteor Society website from Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, which are still pending.
‘This was the middle of the day, and it just came out of nowhere,’ according to one fireball report on the American Meteor Society from Perry, Georgia.
A report submitted by Ashley R from Suwanee, Georgia read: ‘I thought it was a missile.’
Brian S from Alpharetta, Georgia said: ‘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.’
He added that he saw a ‘smoke trail that quickly fell apart.’
Marc Tozer of Georgia shared on Facebook: ‘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…’
WRDW, an Atlanta news source, reported that black smoke was seen south of I-20, although it may be from a controlled burn, first responders said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had ‘no reports of unusual aircraft activity in the area,’ Atlanta News First reported.
There were no immediate reports of damage linked to the fireball, and it’s unclear whether the wide range of sightings may have been caused by multiple fragments from the same potential meteor.
