American Meteor Society
Over 610 fireball reports from 7 states
The AMS has received over 610 reports so far about of a fireball event seen above Michigan on January 16th, 2018 around 08:10pm EST (January 17th 01:10 Universal Time). The fireball was seen primarily from Michigan but was also seen from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and Ontario (Canada).
If you witnessed this event and/or if you have a video or a photo of this event, please
Submit an Official Fireball Report
If you want to learn more about Fireballs: read our Fireball FAQ.
This was a very slow moving meteor – speed of about 28,000 miles per hour (45,000km/hour). This fact, combined with the brightness of the meteor (which suggests a fairly big space rock), shows that the object penetrated deep into the atmosphere before it broke apart (which produced the sounds heard by at least 77 observers). It is likely that there are meteorites on the ground near this region.
Videos
3 witnesses shared a video of the event through the AMS Fireball Form. All the videos can be found on the related event page.
We saw the fireball in Belleville Michigan and heard a loud boom and felt our house shake, causing our German Shepherd to bark like crazy
Morning. We seen it last night on our way north on I 75 close to saint Helen mich. we meaning two trucks. Was pretty cool to see.
Have a awesome day.⛵️
Here is a some info from the USGS about the meteor the exploded over Michigan on 1/17/2018:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us2000ck7p#executive?platform=hootsuite
I felt it at 8:44pm on 08/16/2018, did not realize it was a meteor, it lasted 1.2sec I felt rumble and heard it. I thought it was heavy thunder ,loud that’s awesome
Would it have been possible to see this from South Central Kentucky? I was northbound, on my way home, at the time and saw a bright light for a second but I just dismissed it as a bright star I had never noticed that became blocked by the trees. I’m located about 450 miles SSW of Detroit.
Jeremy and All,
Yes it could have been seen from northern Kentucky and in fact we have several reports from that area of this object.
Robert Lunsford
WMTV nbc15.com in Madison, Wisconsin caught a video of this.
Thanks for clarifying. If there has not been a meteorite found on the ground, perhaps some are correct in calling this a meteor and not meteorite. Only if there is a piece found on the ground would the term meteorite be correct. How would one know that it is from the same event if a fragment is found on the ground?
Jason and All,
Meteorites do not last on the surface very long. They are either discovered, buried, or washed to some other location. If meteorites are found in the general vicinity of the end point of this fireball, we can safely consider them to belong to this particular fireball.
Robert Lunsford
Very loud explosion
we are located north west of of Paris, Ontario Canada.
My son (14 years of age) was in bed facing the north/west, and saw a large flash at that exact time and came running into the living room where we were, and asked if we saw the bright flash and what it was?
We were indoors with the blinds closed and did not see anything, but heard it and got scared.It sounded like a big truck rumbling through the yard right up next to the house or something. My sister felt a shaking, but I did not. In Auburn Hills, Michigan
About 0015 AM Thursday Jan 18 2018 I saw a long bright a little north of due east from Barnesville GA. It was about 30 degrees and dropped vertically and dropped behind the tree line. Probably a 5 second drop duration. Sorry I cannot do any better. I was driving! I’m absolute about this.