(WDNews) – NASA has confirmed that the bright fireball seen streaking across the sky Thursday evening over Metro Atlanta and much of the Southeast was a meteor that disintegrated high above Newton County, Ga.
The meteor was first spotted around 12:25 p.m. ET at an altitude of 48 miles above Oxford, Georgia. It traveled southwest at a speed of 30,000 miles per hour before exploding midair about 27 miles above West Forest, creating a powerful shockwave.
Residents in parts of Georgia and South Carolina reported hearing loud booms following the explosion. NASA says the space rock weighed over a ton and released energy equal to about 20 tons of TNT.
This daylight fireball may have been part of the Beta Taurid meteor shower, which typically peaks around late June.
