American Meteor Society
Its been a busy week for the AMS as we are bombarded by fireball reports from all different parts of the country. The latest event took place over Alabama and Georgia last night September 28th 7:30 PM local time. Over 250 witnesses from Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia have reported the event so far. Below is a heat map of the witnesses who saw the event. Click the image below for the event detail page and witness reports.
Atlanta Fireball – September 28th, 2013 @ 7:30 PM Local Time
Below is the estimated trajectory for this fireball computed from the witness reports.
Atlanta Fireball – September 28th, 2013 @ 7:30 PM Local Time
If you saw this fireball meteor, please fill out an official fireball report.
No video?
My family and I was at sixflags on Sept. 28th waiting in line for a ride , the sky was getting dark and all of a sudden we seen a small ball of fire shooting through the sky looking like a small rocket. we seen pieces of it breaking off and disappear while shooting by. We never seen anything like that before didnt really believe it was real until i just looked up the sightings today. Strange!
Hi I was just passing six flags and saw the sky just liteup for about 5 seconds never seen that before
I saw it at the Alabama game. It was the biggest I have seen. 5 to 7 seconds I thought it could have been a missle.
I saw it around the same time approximately 7:30 pm off the west end of I285
I saw 2 last night in Senoia, Ga. They were both really beautiful
I saw a fireball last night at about 1940. It was south of me, I was at Bradley High School in Cleveland Tennessee, about 20 deg up from the horizon. It was moving basically west to east. It was the brightest and largest event of this type I’ve ever seen. It appeared to break up some as smaller glowing parts seemed to fall off the back of it. I could see it in the sky for 3-5 seconds and it swept about 60 deg across the sky.
Saw it from the Bama game last night! Pretty Awesome!!!
At approximately 7:46 pm EDT (+/- ) I was seated, facing and looking west from a bench in Chastain Park (Atlanta), with an unobstructed view of the object approaching from above the NW treeline. It appeared to be at an altitude of around 10,000 ft, relative to the contrail of a jetliner that it appeared to pass under.
The sighting lasted almost 5 seconds, from the onset of the substantive incandescent orange object streaking into my field of view, that was close enough to display alternating bright and dark areas from its leading surface, until it broke apart trailing a string (5 degrees wide) of 4 or 5 bright fragments that all went dark in the same last second almost directly above. The breakup was at a vertical angle from my position in NW Atlanta of 75 – 80 degrees (approx), placing any possible surviving fragments between I75 and Piedmont Road. (my dead reckoning)
Adrian in Buckhead
My husband, grandson and I saw it. We live in New Market, Alabama. Started as what looked like a giant explosion then moved rapidly east. With a trail behind it. Was amazing. I have seen many “shooting/falling” stars but never anything like that!
I saw the fireball in jasper, Alabama….it went clear across the sky. I watched it till it disapeared from view
We saw this during the alabama game from the west side of the stands. So about 100,000 people saw it. It was at least 5-8seconds.
I was at my daughters band competition in Cleveland TN. last night, and we saw it come over the stadium around 7:40 pm.
I saw one 4 years ago here in bowling green, ky on Stonehenge ave…… we were all freaked out about what we saw it was so fast and close like to the ground! I ran inside my home and was scared for a week. does anyone think this event could be something to do with the fire and brimstone at the end of our lifetime????? I know some friends saw where rivers and big lakes were turned to blood too……. curious isn’t it?
Saw it from Cleveland, TN
I am in Franklin North Carolina and saw the large meteor from my front porch. It was moving west to east. Meteor was the largest I have ever seen. White with a yellow tail like a comet. There was no sound. I saw it break into two pieces and then disappear.
I was in weaver Alabama watching a band competition
September 29,2013 When a very fast moving light shot across the sky
Moving east. I was recording the band so I moved the camera
To the sky and I have a video of this.
I have been searching the Internet trying to find out what
We saw.
The coolest thing here is that we had over 600 boy scouts and leaders ready for the night’s campfire in an ampitheater, and they had a wonderful long view of it (in Blairsville, GA)!
Me & a friend seen what looked like a blue ball with a trail of flames behind it. Watched it pass thru, about 5 seconds. Slower then a shooting star but much faster then a airplane. The trail of flames got shorter as it passed thru, almost diminishing then it made it to the tree line where we lost sight of it. This was right before dark here in Morris Alabama just north of Birmingham. I’ve never seen anything like it we were amazed by it
We saw it at the Warren Central Marching Band Festival in Bowling Green, Ky
I saw it drivin home last night from maryville, tn.biggest I have seen and very pretty.sky was real clear so I saw it for about 12 seconds shooting through.I want to know where it landed though.
It was awesome! viewed it from Trinity Alabama at a band concert. One of our chaperones, student minister at First Baptist Church – Tullahoma, got it on video.
Saw it in Newnan, GA. Visualized for 8 to 10 seconds.
I saw it Sat eve in Roswell,GA. My son grabbed my arm and pointed at the sky, I turned around and we watched travel nw to se across the sky. At first I thought it was a bright green firework but it got larger and was much too high moving much too quickly. Toward the end of the 5 or so sec flight it broke up into smaller fireballs like something out of Astroids video game. I’ve never seen anything like it, spent next min watching nw sky for more. I wonder how close it got before disentigrating.
My family and I witnessed it in middle Tennessee. It was beautiful. We also watched a different the night before. If didn’t last as long but looked the same.
I witnessed this fireball last night (September 28, 2013). It was in the southwestern sky from where I live in Dahlonega, Ga. It was going from my right to my left (west to south) and lasted about ten seconds. The fireball was very vivid and occurred right at sunset. In fact, I was just remarking to myself how pretty the sky was when it appeared. It was triangular in shape, like the N.E. Patriot logo, and was brighter that anything I have ever seen in the sky. It seemed way too low to be a meteor and I thought it to be an asteroid. As it passed to the left, the flame burned out and the object exploded into three large pieces which went in different directions. There was no sound. It was breathtaking, and I wish I had the time to grab my cellphone and video it. Amazing sight.
I live in Marietta and saw the exact same as you described – saw it just after it broke up, traveling very low, coming from the west going south. I, too, thought it was an asteroid because of it being so low. It looked rather alien.
It broke up right over my house and the biggest of the pieces continued south east and flamed out. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen , and it makes it so much better when I found other reports and the trajectory on here. Very very cool. I want to know the size of it?
It looked like it stopped just above my house in locust grove. Where are you located?
I’m in northwest rockdale.
I was at a farmer’s market dinner (Farm to Fork) at the Cedar Creek Vineyards when a friend and I were discussing the brightness of Venus. This meteor appeared very close to where Venus was and many people around me saw the siting as well. We had enough time to point it out to the others once the initial viewers saw it. Sort-of made a special night more special. 🙂
Witnessed while camping in Normandy, Tn.
Yes. My wife and I saw the meteor, too. We were in Sale Creek, Tennessee at a wedding. We were outside around 7:30 pm facing south looking at the stars as the sun began to set. We had a good vantage point from the top of a hill with the full horizon in view. We saw a white-orange streak moving low in the sky from west to east, brighter than a typical shooting star. When it approached the east it broke up into about 5 or 6 bright orange pieces. Quite an awesome sight.
Saw it while sitting in Caldwell Park off Highland Avenue in Birmingham, Alabama. Really bright and beautiful.
Six of us had just left the dock for an Evening Cruise heading out of Balus Bay on Lake Lanier at about 7:45 PM. Our heading was NW when we all saw this amazing rosette of Light coming at as a little off the Port Bow. At frist we thought it was plane headed to Gainesville Airport. Much to Fast and much to bright. Beautiful colors! As the meteor past at about 20% up from level by all of us, we noticed how the flames were wrapping around the front of it and then tailing off! Similar to David Lubin’s description. Then just as Brandon Henrichs noted, it broke up as it quit flaming! You could see the pieces of rock falling in the faint light of the sunset sky. We all looked around an noticed we were nearly alone on the lake!
Once in a life time!
I am sure others saw it, we were in a group of 200-300 people at the playing field at my son’s elementary school in Cherokee county, GA 30115. We were there to watch an outside movie family event. I was facing basically West I believe and I was looking up towards the giant blow up screen before the movie started just after 7:30. I and several other people noticed the streaking object in the sky and I heard several people commenting like it was a firework or something. I pointed out to my wife who also saw it that it had no sound, nor did it leave a smoke trail. I believed it was a shooting star. It streaked across the skyline and got brighter and then it broke apart into smaller pieces and faded away. It was really cool to see one that big.
The elementary school was Avery Elementary school on East Cherokee Drive in Canton, GA-Hickory Flat area.
Here is video of the one over Ohio http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wKFPEkqL650&feature=c4-feed-u
I seen the fireball shoot straight through the sky like a Jet. We were in Senoia Ga. and just finished meeting cast members from THE WALKING DEAD. 🙂
Saw it in Forsyth County between Cumming and Lake Lanier. Pretty awesome sight!
I was in Gadsden, AL Sat., 9/28/13 at a High School Band competition. Saw the fireball overhead around 7:30pm moving southeast. It was amazing!
I saw the fireballs at the TomorrowWorld music festival in Chattahoochee Hills, GA. Thought they were giant fireworks at first. Lasted about 10seconds and were the biggest/longest I’ve ever seen.
I also saw it at TomorrowWorld. About 10 of us all saw it coming over one of the stages…It looked like a firework, but was way to level and flew past us, eventually burning up.
My father-in-law and I saw it from our boat on Dale Hollow Lake near Willow Grove Marina (Allons, TN). Very cool!
My son and I were in the west stands at the alabama/ole miss game too
when he saw it and said “hey mom, look at that!” We watched it through
the opening in the stands between the end zone and the east stands. No one else around us commented, so it was pretty amazing we saw it bc it was such a small window of seconds to get to see it. Beautiful!
A group of us celebrating our 30 year High School reunion saw it in Villa Rica Ga.
I am located in Acworth, GA and have sited 2 dashing lights in the sky on 10/10/2013 and another on 10/19/2013 both shortly after 9pm. I was outside on a smoke break and thought I was crazy after seeing this. I decided to do an internet search and came across other people stating they have saw the same thing recently. The light seamed to appear and suddenly dash like a shooting star before it disappeared behind my tree lines. I didn’t really think much after the first siting, but after the second I couldn’t stop thinking of what this could have been since it appeared to be traveling so low.
Just recently found this site. I live in Canton GA and was so shocked to see it as well. I clearly remember it being a green in color as at first I thought it was fireworks. But clearly it was not as i watched it fly over and disperse. The whole event lasted no more than 10-12 seconds.
I was in Willow Grove on my way to Walmart and saw a shooting star. It shot down so quickly, I didn’t really believe in them before but now… It was amazing to see.