American Meteor Society
An bright fireball was seen over Virginia on July, 17 2014. Preliminary reports place the time of the event near 10:15 PM EDT. So far, this fireball has been reported by over 80 witnesses across East Coast.
The fireball was seen from primarily Virginia but witnesses from Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia also reported seeing the phenomenon.
Below is a map of the estimated trajectory, based on the witness reports submitted so far. Reports continue to flow into the AMS fireball database.
AMS 1511-2014 – July,17 2014 Virginia Fireball Trajectory
If you saw this fireball, please fill out an official fireball report with the AMS. To learn more about fireball meteors read our Fireball FAQ.
We encourage witnesses who saw this fireball to also download the AMS Mobile App for iPhone or Android and submit an enhanced fireball report using your mobile device. The data we can collect from the mobile App is more accurate and allows us to determine the velocity of the fireball. If you already submitted a web based report, please also complete the mobile report.
Below is the current heat map created from the witness position.
AMS 1511-2014 – July,17 2014 Virginia Fireball Heatmap
Video caught by Dan Perjar in NC.
I saw a bright meteor in the approximate location as indicated, but it was at 10:15 pm. I was motorcycling north past 10198 Wrenns Mill Rd Smithfield, VA 23430 and observed it to my left (northwest) and very high up.
I also saw a less bright meteor to the east over the Chesapeake Bay as I turned south on my loop ride about 10:20 pm Eastern time
I saw it !!… while driving south on Rt 29 in Virginia approx around 10:15 pm (somewhere between Lynchburg and Danville) I saw a very bright meteor in the sky to my left, therefore it came down East from where I was driving. It was extremely bright and big. I could appreciate a very intense yellow almost white and blue (like the flame when using a gas stove) it left a cloud of smoke that dissipated relatively quickly…. I was stoic, It was amazing !
Location Leonardtown, MD. Saw a greenish blue pulsating object and then a flash in the Western sky at approximately 10:30pm first I thought it was a plane, then with the flash thought it was lightning but there was no sound. After checking the weather realized it was not lightning but something else.
For the record, the time was near 22:15, not 2:15. Other sites are quoting your typo which, in turn, is creating a lot of confusion.
We saw the fireball pass above us. We live in Norfolk Va 23502. It passed right above us. We live off of Ingelside and Garfield Ave. It was flashing blue green with red behind it. It was amazing…
I live in Gloucester va at the point I’ve seen one before when I was like 15 its a pretty cool sight to see
Interesting…we were startled about 10:20PM last night to an unexplained explosion in Hanover county…possibly related?
We live not too far from gettysburg and we seen one last night at 10pm.
I saw one between 10 and 11 in rural Boykins VA. Lit up the whole yard. Big bright round flash!
I saw what I thought was a meteor around 10:40 edt i was flying in a small plan from the Charlottesville Airport towards Richmond at 5,500 feet. This would put my sighting much later than what the story has reported. But the trajectory seems correct for what I saw.
I saw this meteor on 17 July 2014 around 10:17pm near Huntingtown, Md Calvert County, md. I was driving west on Rt. 2 towards Rt 4 to go home. It was amazing but I was a little scared because I have never seen anything like that in the night sky. It was bright, red/orange and white and a small tail. It was very fast and went down towards the south.
Seen approx 10:15 pm from Scottsville VA. The entire sky lit up, amazing. Also observed 5 to 6 shooting stars between 9:45 thru 11:00 pm.
Location: Powhatan, VA
I saw the fireball at approximately 10:15 -10:20 (I didn’t have my watch on so this is an approximate). I tend to be a bit directionally challenged but I would say it was heading dead on in the direction of Surry, VA. Pretty cool but it did startle me a bit.
I am in Centreville, VA and was asleep by 10:00pm on July 17th, 2014. This “Fireball” is all new news to me!
I saw the fireball around 10:00 last night near midlothian, VA with my boyfriend as he was driving. It sort of looked like a shooting star; he was paranoid it was an alien invasion. Lol
I saw the meteorite coming across the sky a piece of it fell in my back yard. The next morning I recovered it. I have it and want to have it examined. During the last 300 feet it lit my back yard up with a beautiful green trail. I live in south Richmond,Virginia. I want to remain unknown but would love to have the right people look at this. I marked the location where it landed.
I’m curious. Did you ever get someone to look at it for you?
In the process of sending it to UVA for examination. I thought about the Smithsonian but it fell in Va. so it shold stay in Va. Some people have read way too much in to it as it is an omen. I deal with fact and not undocumented theory.
WOW! While en route to BWI airport in Maryland, I witnessed a low traveling fireball with west to east trajectory between 10:17 and 10:18 pm. The object was emitting flames from behind as it travelled westward. The color was one of yellow/blue flames and was quite bright. Of interesting note, is that the dash cam video clock of a 10:17 pm sighting over Raleigh NC would suggest that it’s velocity was such that it was sighted near Elkridge Maryland in less than a minute!
AWESOME!
I seen this fire ball and it was so close it looked like it was about to land I’M in Mathews Va approx 10pm me and two others seen it, it was freaky because it was so close it reminded me of a sparkler because sparks were coming from it.
I live in Lexington NC. I was on my way to work on 7/17/15 when I saw the fireball at 10:15 pm falling from the sky to my North. It was very bright and lasted about 6 seconds .
I saw this from Carolina Beach, NC when I was on my way home from work around 10:15-20pm. It came from the west to east. It changed colors and looked like it had green in it. It was huge.
We saw this fireball from near downtown Charlottesville around 10:15. I only caught the end of the trail, but it was definitely green with some yellow and red across time–can’t remember which colors came in what order. We were walking in a SE direction and fireball was mostly in front, a little to south of us. My impression was that it wasn’t a meteor, but maybe fallen human-made debris as the colors were so unusual, but maybe cosmic debris can change colors like that? I’ve never seen a meteor that big or colorful.
PS to last comment. The fireball started high to the South and headed slightly to the east (or as we were facing SE, It started high to our right coming down towards the left slightly.)
We are in Aguadilla,PR and we seen this also.
Correction : We are in San Sebastian, PR. We saw this while sitting outside.
I just saw it!!! It was a little far from my point of view but I saw it!!! I live in Cosa Rica in the province of Alajuela. Approximately at 22:20, I was finishing a book and my house has a lot of windows, when I was done I looked out and saw a fireball in the sky, it stayed for a while, the it looked like it vanished. I immediately searched for meteor showers on my iPhone and saw this! Hope my update is good info.
I caught it on my dashcam. I was driving to work and saw it at a traffic light. I uploaded it on YouTube but no one seems to be interested. I even reported it to local news channels. Anyways if anyone interested check it out. The exact time synchronized with GPS was 22:15:49 PM EST. (How’s that for accuracy?) And it lasted approximately 5 sec. Here’s the video of it from my car’s dashcam http://youtu.be/IA3nlVkzqLs
My brother and I were driving due south on highway 83 in Maryland, north Baltimore County a few miles north of exit 27. Suddenly in the south eastern sky we saw the very bright light of a meteor. It was burning white and green and was very large/very bright in comparison to any other ‘falling star’ I have seen. It was after 10:00 pm on July 17, probably close to 10:15.
Driving south to go through the Harbor Tunnel about a mile north of its southbound entrance I saw it falling to the east. Biggest I have ever seen.
Reading some of these ignorant reports has been more entertaining than the meteor itself.
We saw the fireball around 10:00 on the 18th near Four Oaks, NC. We were sitting on our porch when we saw it and at first we thought it was fireworks.
I misspoke…the fireball we saw outside of Four Oaks, NC was on the 17th, not the 18th.
I saw it around 10:15 on the 17th of July while traveling south on Rte 301 in Maryland near Millington. It fell from high in the southern sky toward the east through about 45deg. It stared out thick and white then turned into a yellow ball with trailing pieces. It was beautiful!!
I belive i saw this fireball in Maine! I was with a group of people at a summer camp and over the lake a fireball went flying across the sky
We live in the Varina area of Henrico Co., VA. near Yahley Mill Rd. and Darbytown Rd. Sometime after 10pm on 7/17/14 something shook the house. It was similar to but less intense tan the sensation we got when a house exploded 2 miles from here from a propane leak. I talked to a friend that was 4.5 miles northwest of here in the Sandston area that said he had seen colorful flashing in the sky that lasted a few seconds.
I saw it in Statesville, NC
I saw it in Carolina Beach, NC. I was on a party cruise. I happened to look up and saw it. It came down as we were heading out toward the ocean. It came from me left and went toward the right. At my location it was very bright green, reddish behind it with a glowing tail. I got excited and asked if anyone else saw it. No one did…I was the only one! Surprised me because it was so bright and big. People told me I probably saw a flare, since we were on the ocean, but I knew it was something else. I’m glad there is documentation of it and I know what it was now! Pretty awesome.
I saw the fire ball on the 17th as well. I live in North Carolina near Zebulon. It scared the crap out of me when I saw it. I thought for sure the world was over. Hahahaha
My niece and I saw a fireball on July 17 around 10 pm. We were sitting outside on Emerald Isle, NC. We were facing north. It had a tail of white, some blue, some orange, and some red colors. A large bright white circle exploded right in front of our eyes! It was like a giant was taking our picture and we saw the flash! We did not hear it, just saw it. Exciting!!!
I was identifying constellations by my school at Burke VA when this happened.
(July 17th, 2014 10:00 pm ET)
The ball was really close to us, and its white-green hue made it like a comet.
I wasn’t sure…so I emailed NASA
They haven’t replied yet……but whatever
These things are really rare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So any of you witnesses are extremely lucky!! 🙂
I was at my uncles house in Lottsburg va when I saw it. It lit up the sky and looked like it disappeared behind a tree I didn’t know what I saw!
I was out walking my dog around 9:45ish p.m. and I looked between two houses and I saw a Huge orange fireball with a long orange tail. Then it turned a bright neon green and disappeared behind the house. It was extremely low and I was waiting on the ground to shake or to die…I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. It was sooo scarey! Now that I am alive, it was very exciting and I’m so glad I got to experience it!
I saw it driving home at about 10:20 PM in Rocky Mount, NC. I thanked the Lord for allowing me to see it. It was on a Thursday night, July 17, 2014.
My son Scott and I were enjoying a beer and the late evening on the deck of our summer home at Gwynn’s Island, VA on the Chesapeake Bay, watching the heavens, and counting shooting stars the evening of 08-17-14 as a bright and
colorful object appeared to the west. In all my life I have never experienced such a beautiful object falling from the sky.
I saw it on my way home from work. I don’t remember what day it was but it was around 11pm EST. I was just outside of Raleigh in the town of Wake Forrest. I saw a bright flash, then a ball of fire with a blue/green trail. I would have to say that it is the biggest one I’ve ever seen, and I saw it shooting across the sky for a good 5 to 6 seconds. If I were to hold a quarter out about 2 feet away from me, that’s how big it looked going across the sky in an easterly direction.
I was driving north bound on I-95 July 17 around 10:16 when I saw what I thought at first to be a shooting star to only realized I was wrong. The meteor looked like it was so close I got a little scared as to grip the steering wheel super tight. Very amazing sight all and all.
I saw this to I live in Winston-Salem nc I was walking out side n I was like redish orange looking I was scared it was the first time I seen something like this.