Booming Fireball Spotted In Sky Over 3 States, NASA Confirms

CLAIBORNE COUNTY, MS — More than two dozen people in three states spotted a fiery meteor as it streaked across the morning sky this week, NASA confirmed in a blog post.

About 30 eyewitnesses in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi reported seeing a bright fireball just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to NASA. The sightings were followed by numerous reports of loud booms heard in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and surrounding counties.

A NASA satellite later confirmed the fireball was an exceptionally bright meteor, which was first spotted 54 miles above the Mississippi River near the Alcorn, Mississippi.

"What struck me as unusual was how few eyewitness reports we had given the skies were so clear," Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a blog post. "More people heard it than saw it."

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The meteor was about 12 inches in diameter with a weight of 90 pounds, NASA said. As it moved southwest at a speed of 55,000 miles per hour, it broke into pieces as it descended deeper into Earth’s atmosphere.

The meteor disintegrated about 34 miles above a swampy area north of Minorca, Louisiana.

The fragmentation of the fireball created shock waves that traveled to the ground, producing the booms and vibrations felt by people residents in the area, according to NASA.

At its peak, the fireball was over 10 times brighter than the full moon, NASA said.