American Meteor Society
The American Meteor Society has received over 1500 reports of a bright fireball on Monday, December 29, 2014. It was observed over a large portion of the eastern USA stretching from Maine southward to Maryland. This event occurred near 6:35pm eastern standard time or 23:35 Universal Time. Individual reports may be seen at: Report #3638 for 2014.
More details will be provided as information arrives.
If you saw this fireball, please report it here.
Below is the heat map of the witnesses of this event.
AMS Event #3638-2014 -Heatmap
Below is a 3D trajectory of the fireball’s entry plotted by the AMS using data from the witness sightings. The geometric impact point is located South West of Carlisle, New York ( 42°44’48.07″N, 74°25’4.78″W).
3638-2014-trajectory
Below is a video of the fireball caught by Peter Czech in NJ (the fireball appears at 0:04 on the top right.)
Saw it from our front porch in Watertown, MA
At 4:45AM today getting into my car at home to got to work I saw a large green and yellow burning meteor falling from the sky near my home.
These reports as viewed from my phone’s web browser seem to be reporting the left to right, right to left info backwards. I’m in Maine, I saw left to right, my report says the opposite. Meanwhile, the new jersey reports show left to right, they surely saw right to left. Is this a software issue or am i reading it wrong? (Dec 29 fireball, 200+ reports)
I’m in New Jersey and I saw it from right to left (east to west).
The answer to your question is fairly simple if you look at the map. If you were north of the meteor’s path you’d see a mirror image of what people to the south of it see. (And of course there’s a lot of scatter in the reports because an alarming number of people don’t know left from right or east from west!)
In early a.m. during hunting season in 1991 in Wilton Maine, my husband at the time and I were outside when a fireball silently flew over head lighting up the dark morning to instant daylight for about 5 seconds moving west to east, it was about a mile long, white in color, and was reported by people as far east as Togus Maine.
from 509 Prosper Road…looking south the meteor observed as if going west across clear sky …very brilliant light and very fast…almost seemed an illusion..
I WAS DRIVING NORTH ON LANES MILL RD IN BRICK TOWNSHIP NJ ON DECEMBER 29TH 2014 ABOUT 6:30 PM WHEN ABOVE THE TREE LINE GOING FROM EAST TO WEST I SAW A LARGE SWIRLING GREEN BALL OF FIRE WITH A LARGE SWIRLING TAIL. THIS ROAD TRAVELS ALONGSIDE THE GARDEN STATE PARKWAY AT THIS POINT AND I ACTUALLY HIT MY BREAKS BECAUSE IT APPEARED SO LARGE AND LOOKED TO THE PARKWAY TO SEE WHERE IT WOULD LAND.
I was on Route 1 in Drexel Hill at approx. 6:35 when I saw the green flash..never saw one before and thought it could have been fire works but the brightness of it and the way it disappeared or “fizzled out” I knew it was either a meteor..I’ve seen plenty of falling stars in Wildwood N.J. glad to hear It was what I saw..very special to me!
Oh that would be rite outside of Phila., Pa.
Hi! This was my first Big sighting. I witnessed a huge White Ball streaking
across the sky then it turned Yellowish with a small Explosion then followed by a Trail then a Big Explosion with Disintegration in plain view. Then it was over . WOW !!! The next morning I wake up to over 200 sightings of the same Fireball !! Way Cool !!!
Meteor sighted at 6:33 pm 12/29/2014 traveling nne to ssw over Northern NY
Driving south on Northway it appeared to be moving east to west over Plattsburgh NY
44.6933° N, 73.4664° W
but could of been further south…
long white trail and then a blue burst as it appeared to break up or explode
I was driving north on Summit Ave in Hackensack close to Hackensack Hospital when I saw a light stream across the sky. I knew it was not a plane because it was going fast.
Hi my name is Shawndell and on my way walking home I’ve saw narrow medium-sized white bluish fireball blaze in the sky over a high riser building in
NY Eastchester section of the Bronx a little after 6:30 pm it happened so quick
it appeared out of nowhere then seconds later with a long streak it just disappeared it was so phenomenal seeing something like that unusual
I saw it over NYC
Last night we saw a huge light fall out of the sky. We thought a plane has fallen out of the sky. When we didn’t hear anything on the news, I researched. Thank you so much for your report. At least we know we aren’t crazy. We live in Bushkill, PA bordering Dingmans Ferry PA. It was a huge bright light! Scary!
Funny and strange . I’ve seen lots of meteoric activities both coincidentally and sought for .Yeah if the shower is large enough and your unaware it can be frightening . Your association with a plane though whew . . might have a lot to do with Media and an abundance of exposure . . . wierd part is when I heard of this I had the disire to be on the east coast for a second . As planes and fireworks leave less to the imagination as a single to a multitude of burning or freezing natural or not sattelites .
I saw one over 146 on the 15th good size fire ball burning bright white…moving east to west
I saw this fireball on the north side of the Massachusetts Turnpike near Exit 9 in Framingham MA. To my eye, it had hues of green, almost like spent fireworks. It was tracking west/southwest based on my position.
I was outside when I saw and heard it fizzle out about 100 yards in front of me. It burnt out at about 100 ft from touching ground in the Russell Memorial Field in Nashua NH. Quite impressive to actually hear it and see it so close up.
I saws this as I was leaving my office last night. At first I thought it might have been fireworks but realized it was much too big and bright for that. Actually had a flaming tail behind it! Pretty Amazing!
Hi I just wanted to share that I saw the shooting what ever it was it was bright and almost looked like one of those shooting firework I was picking up my daughter from her daycare. I was driving along the Passaic river in Paterson NJ on west broaday. It was beautiful. I’m glad to have seen my first shooting star ever
I was turning into our street and saw what I thought was some fireworks rocket going across the sky at about 6:30 pm. to me it appeared as a very bright white light putting out sparks and also again to me appeared to have a green base
color as it burned and then it just went out like a spent rocket. later watching the news I recognized the video as just as I saw flash by. I live in Washington township NJ.
I saw the meteor looking west from my home in Stoughton, MA.
I saw it around 6:30ish while driving on 287 north around BootonNJ
I see fireball insky this morning about 4:45 on 12-30-2014 in Athens,Maine I was on my paper route.I have a lot of them but never so close,this didn’t look very high and went straight across
Please call me regarding fireballs related to chem trails captured with cell phone while walking, Baltimore,md. 443-400-9586. You need to know about this.
My wife and I also witnessed the fire ball. We live in amityville new york ( long island). The fire ball was so bright it caught both of our attention threw our window facing north.
We were driving on Old Berwick Rd. from Bloomsburg, PA heading Northeast around 6:30 pm and saw a light in the sky that appeared briefly and moving quickly.
From fully educated adult. I am telling you, 2nd time, i have footage taken on Dec 26, 2014, between hrs of 2pm to 422pm over Towson- Parkville, Md. you need to know about. Call 443-400-9586.
While driving home from a trip in Southern California I saw a shooting star that lasted longer than usual and it was bright and blue. I watched it disappear behind the horizon after watching it for about 5 seconds. I was heading southbound on the 5 freeway near Santa Clarita. Not sure if it was the same one, or if it was an associated debris, but it was definitely out of the ordinary.
…it was heading East, however I believe it was heading in a Southern direction.
About the same time of the reported incident.
My son and I saw about the same thing while in Bakersfield,Ca. this was about 6:30 PM local time,and appeared to be traveling from northeast to northwest…This was also on 12/29.
I saw what looked like a series of flashbulbs (about 4 or five bright lights in sequence) in the sky that lasted about one or two seconds. I was in maryland on Route 95 going North. The light was about 45-55 degrees about the Horizon in the Northern sky.
Hello,
I saw the fireball last night from the Bronx, NY – flying over Arthur Avenue. It had a red’ish/orange’ish tail and was more sizable than any “shooting star” I had ever seen. It was so large from my vantage that I waited with bated breath for a few moments to see if I would hear an impact. I did not.
It was beautiful.
Lee Pelicci
I live in New Jersey and was by exit 120 on the GSP and I saw it
I saw it in hauppauge New York it was a green like when you start a fire when it turns bluish yellowish as if it was turning off 3 times then disappeared.
12/29/14 -6:34 pm Saw the meteor over Ambler, PA called my Mom to let her know I had just seen the most amazing shooting star or another plane coming down. Appeared to be very close in the sky much lower than the planes above it. Was an incredible, unforgettable sight! So glad I found your sight happy to know I wasn’t the only one seeing this.
Saw it in blue bell, it looked so close!
Im so elated that this made the news because i made a promptu report of my sighting on facebook. My description was of a glorious meteor in the northern sky with blue and green streaks around the tail. I exited my back door on my deck to have a smoke and happened to look left towards the long island sound where i reside in melville long island and witnessed this wishful beauty streaking which only our Higher powers enlighten us with every so often. Funny thing is i have recently wished to see a shooting star around a month ago where as i am always looking to the stars and truth be told this has been my 3rd sighting sence!!! Happy New Year to me…Gregg Madigan
My boyfriend and I saw two like that here in Northern California about 4 months ago. It was pretty big and just had burned out just before they hit the ground within about 45 minutes of each other. It’s pretty scary seeing something like that as you don’t know if there are more to follow. Space debris?
I also saw one around 6am last week in harlem streaking in the northern sky which ran parallel to the hudson river heading west!!!
We saw the fireball as we were driving toward Rt 30 near Rt 15 intersection just outside Gettysburg Pa..It was around the same time others have reported it. We saw it as it looked in the dashcam recording you have shown on this site.It was quite a sight! Ed and Lorraine Clark
I think I witnessed this fireball on Monday, December 30th. I was at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ. Looking out over the woods, I saw what I thought was a firework. I thought it was odd that the firework did not make any sound. And then it just sort of fizzled out. Now that I see other people posting about fireballs, I think this is what I saw.
definitely saw it
heading on rt 206 north in flanders NJ
thought it was a spent firework because seemed close but now realize how far it was
I saw fireball in Franklin square, NY at 6:30 pm on 12\29\14. Yellow streak, then green streak ending in a fireball. amazing
I thought it was a helicopter on fire it was so huge across may windshield heading north on route 110 in Huntington Long Island NY. Then it just disintegrated and disappeared in an instant.
I saw this In Sussex County, DE. I was out teaching my daughter how to drive and couldn’t take my eyes off of it because it was so bright. But, I didn’t say anything to my daughter because I didn’t want to distract her. It was a very bright light in the sky.
I was standing outside my friends house in Gloucester, Mass. The fireball went through like sky almost like a long shooting star and firework. It was so bright as it flew through the sky then disappeared with blotches of light like the end of a firework !
I live in California and on my way home from work around 6:30-6:45pm on Monday, Dec. 29th, I saw a massive fireball in the sky. It strongly resembled the meteor in New York. The fireball was to the southeast, going west to east in the sky. I was driving and it caught me by total surprise.
saw it while in Greensboro VT waiting at the vets office. Very beautiful. Bright white with a touch of blue. Never seen it before.
Glad I watched the news last night to find out what I saw Monday night. I read some of the other comments..I too saw a red tail. I was driving
In Sussex NJ.
Driving back from NYC, was on the LIE heading east and I saw what looked like a missel or a firework
passing on the north side of the highway heading west! So glad other people witnessed this, as nobody else in the
car did!
Here is a link to another video of the event as seen from Baltimore MD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lc92XVDbA&feature=youtu.be
I was a passenger in a car heading north over the Croton river in Croton-on-Hudson, NY I looked to my right and saw the fireball traveling south to north across the sky and then disappear with orange sparks as it burnt up.
Wow, I missed this one. But I did see a very bright white (something) in the Eastern sky streaking South to North around 8 or 8:30 pm. It appeared to descend gradually downward as bright white. Turning golden yellow then bright green. A few seconds later when it turned bright green it had a tail that went from yellow to orangish red. As soon as the tail disappeared the bright green started to dissipate to nothing. As if it was burning out. All of a sudden it burned out. I live in the Dutchess county area, Poughkeepsie, NY. It appeared as if it was right over our area. Noting it did not have a tail only until it had turned bright green.
This happened that very same night of the meteor Dec. 29, 2014. Also, I heard nothing. It was silent.
Early Monday AM – 12/29/14 @ 4:45AM – I was driving West on I78 in NJ and just as I got off at Exit 3, 3 miles from the Delaware River, I saw a bright flash of neon green in the Western sky. I know that all of these reports were for sightings in the evening of that day but I definitely saw “something” early that AM.
Traveling north in Worcester, MA. Saw vertical top-down traveling bright white streak ending in intensified flash before burning out. Really nice.
I saw it facing east in Springfield, PA. It was green and breaking up at the time. It quickly disappeared from my view behind a house.
It went directly over me and out to the west. I was in Boston at 6:40pm on Monday and I was walking west. It went over me and out in front of me. I thought it was a missle at one point because it lasted so long.
I was in West Hartford, CT when I saw it. It was bright and large! I mentioned it to friend the next day and he said it made the news. WOW
Driving south at around 6:45 in northern VT, saw it moving east to west. It was so vivid I thought it might be a local firework or something. Very bright, very big! Greenish tinge. Then disintegrated as it moved west. Quite a sight!
Sighted Summit NY on my birthday. Landed a few miles from me in Schoharie County. I wonder if any aliens were aboard? 😉
I saw it around 6:30 pm while driving west in Center Ossipee, NH. It had a long white tail and the body glowed a brief red and blue before it disappeared in the night sky.
My 10 yr old daughter and I saw it driving north 395 in D.C, last night. It seemed to ‘land’ right behind the new Ferris wheel. We were admiring the new Ferris wheel and there it was. Beautiful !
So glad to have found this info and everyone’s comments. I also saw it Monday night. We were driving home from my sister’s house in Pottstown Pa. It was some site to see. I saw a red ball with a little bit of blue at the end. It went so fast and disappear behind the trees.
Wow that was amazing! What exactly was it ??? I seen them perfectly about three minutes apart of each other!!!
Me and my husband were just driving home from my brothers house on new years eve and we saw a green light falling fast from the sky at 2:30am. It was frightening. This is in Schaumburg, IL, a suburb of Chicago.
I was traveling north on Route 9 heading into Absecon New Jersey when I spotted the meteor. Have seen several never won this large or green in color. Thought it was possibly a plane on fire as it was following right along the flight path into the Atlantic City Airport. Was happy to see something so rare.
I had just left work and was traveling north on Lexington ave in Mount Kisco NY, when I saw a bright green fireball disentegrate into what look like a bunch of fiery green vapor drps before flaming out a second later. It was one of the most exquisite ones I ever saw.
We were driving north on the NJ Turnpike approaching the exit for the Lincoln Tunnel. It streaked across the sky from right to left. Really Nice!!!!
A lot of people here in Georgia, USA heard a loud boom… a VERY LOUD BOOM! If it were an explosion, I’d have to say it blew up something REALLY big,but nothing was reported. I’m sure it was either the earth plates moving, or could have been this…
Dec. 29, 6:35 pm Acton, Massachusetts Saw the bright white/ yellow ball in the Western sky. As it descended the tail was green.
I saw the green fire ball in Southern California falling parallel to the long beach freeway on December 29 at 635 standard pacific time. It had a green tail and appeared to be gliding across the sky like an airplane. The tail was bright green and would disappear and reappear. I saw this for approximately 10-15 seconds before it disappeared going northbound. Couldn’t have been a meteor or an explosion.