Major Daylight Fireball Over Southeastern US – January, 24th 2016

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The American Meteor Society has received nearly 130 reports of an extremely bright daylight fireball on Sunday, January 24th, 2016. It was observed over a large portion of the north of Florida and south of Georgia. This event occurred near 10:25am ET time or 15:25 Universal Time.

This is apparently a meteorite fall! More details will be provided as information arrives.

If you saw this fireball, please report it here.
If you have a video of this fireball, please share it on your free AMS account or contact us using this form.
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Below is the heat map of the witnesses and the estimated ground trajectory of this event.

216-2016-Heatmap
AMS Event #266-2016 – Heat map of the witnesses and estimated ground trajectory

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 few miles north of Lake City, FL.

216-2016-Trajectory
AMS Event #266-2016 – 3D trajectory

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20 comments

    • UF 8 years ago

      We saw this fireball. 3 witnesses total.

      Reply to UF
      • Andrew Gunn 8 years ago

        My buddy Brian Lewis, his girlfriend Sabrina, and myself were driving from Hahira, GA to Valdosta, GA at the same time this sighting to place on the Sunday morning of January the 24th 2016. I was wondering whether others had noticed this event as well. I just haven’t got around to searching to find out for myself until now. It was an amazing experience. I nor my buddy have ever seen anything like this during the day. It lit up the sky for a second or two. Then showered down trails of red, green, and yellow before shooting off in line towards earth. Afterwards a smoke trail was clearly visible. Immediately as it broke Earth’s atmosphere I noticed it and yelled out “DUDE”. I will never forget it. That’s for sure. I’m glad others witnessed it as well.

        Reply to Andrew
        • Chloe Equizi 8 years ago

          Hi Andrew,
          I am a reporter for WUFT News and am writing a story on the meteor event you witnessed. I was hoping to get in touch with you and ask you about what you saw. Please give me an email back at cequizi@ufl.edu

          Reply to Chloe
    • Michael 8 years ago

      I haven’t really seen any news on it, I witnessed it with a few friends while flying remote control airplanes in Jacksonville Florida. It was an impressive sight.

      Reply to Michael
      • UF 8 years ago

        I haven’t seen any news on it either but we def. saw it! It was very large and red with a smoke trail. Very cool. Happened so fast. I would have thought I was crazy if my son and husband hadn’t seen it too. My neighbor also said she saw it.

        Reply to UF
    • crystal allen 8 years ago

      Hi Cherylann. My name is Crystal and I live in Georgia. I was driving down a back road yesterday morning when I saw a huge fireball come across the sky. It was directly in front of me and came down at an angle and lasted for a few seconds until it passed behind the treeline to the right of my car. It seemed to be really close and it kinda scared me bc it looked like it was about to crash into earth and I knew for sure I would feel it! I was the only one on the road and it is a country road so it does not usually have a whole lot of traffic. I have been searching for information on it since yesterday and this is the only info I have found so far and I have had no luck with any other witnesses either. I even called NASA but they didn’t call me back lol.

      Reply to crystal
      • Chloe Equizi 8 years ago

        Hi Crystal,
        I am a reporter for WUFT News and am writing a story on the meteor event you witnessed. I was hoping to get in touch with you and ask you about what you saw. Please give me an email back at cequizi@ufl.edu

        Reply to Chloe
  • Luis Eduardo 8 years ago

    Hey, i didnt see the “fireball” but i did see something oN January 23 sometime around 3pm..seating in the dinning room, I saw out of the window a bright flash, which as weird since it was sunny outside.

    Reply to Luis
  • Patty 8 years ago

    Face book. The Truth about Titusville. A guy posted a video

    Reply to Patty
  • David 8 years ago

    I too saw the meteor but it looked like it was close to a fall site in jacksonville than Lake city

    Reply to David
  • Dayjoy 8 years ago

    I saw it from Gainesville, FL at around 10:25 a.m. It was an impressive fireball!

    Reply to Dayjoy
    • Chloe Equizi 8 years ago

      Hi Dayjoy,
      I am a reporter for WUFT News and am writing a story on the meteor event you witnessed. I was hoping to get in touch with you and ask you about what you saw. Please give me an email back at cequizi@ufl.edu

      Reply to Chloe
  • Brinda 8 years ago

    I saw it at Fernandina Beach. I didn’t know what it was and called 911. I was afraid that it was a plane or powered hang glider on fire.

    Reply to Brinda
    • Megan 8 years ago

      I actually called 911 too! But I saw it in Tallahassee; there are a handful of Tallahassee area reports. I was up on a hill and literally saw a fireball crash in the treeline ahead of me. I realize things may “look” close but they actually are not, but I then immediately saw smoke coming up from the exact spot it crashed in the treeline. I waited about five minutes and it was still smoking, so that’s why I called 911. Wish I would have tried to drive to find it but I knew that areas of trees was a big section of private property. I know they said the landing sight was not near Tallahassee, but I’m thinking this must have been a smaller piece that broke off.

      Reply to Megan
  • Tim 8 years ago

    Was at a buddys house and me and him saw it and didn’t know what it was. Told a couple guys at school and said me and him were crazy. Finally found this to show them that it was real.

    Reply to Tim
  • Scott 8 years ago

    I saw it in yulee fl wile driving down a1a. It was extremely low when I saw it, scared me a little at first lol. Seen sparks and everything coming off it before it disappeared.

    Reply to Scott
  • Maureen 8 years ago

    Saw this meteor while running around Mayo Clinic Jacksonville training for a marathon. Took a second to register what I was seeing and was amazed. No news reports and my friends joked that I’d been running too long. Glad to find out it was real!

    Reply to Maureen
  • Chloe Equizi 8 years ago

    Hi,
    If there are any eyewitnesses on this meteor shower, please email me at cequizi@ufl.edu. I am currently working on a story for this event for WUFT News. Thank you!

    Reply to Chloe

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