If you think you saw something streak across the sky in metro Atlanta this morning, you’re not the only one.
From north Fulton to south Cobb and Barrow to Gwinnett counties, multiple people said they spotted a “green fireball” just before 7 a.m. Thursday.
The American Meteor Society, which allows people to self-report apparent meteor sightings, said it has gotten hundreds of reports about the fireball. In addition to Georgia, reports came from Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The event brought spectators to life as people began trying to learn more about the green streak. A WSB Radio caller said the fireball was the “biggest meteorite I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
“It lit up part of the sky and made my heart race,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
But scientists aren’t quite sure that the green streak is a meteorite.
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David Dundee, an astronomer at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, said NASA scientists are trying to figure out if the object is natural or man-made.
“It’s a big question mark right now,” he said. That’s because the speed at which the object was moving, 9 kilometers per second, is the borderline between the speed at which either a natural or man-made object would move.
In a tweet, the Meteor Society said it is investigating. It urges people who saw the fireball to add photos or videos to its event page.
The excitement carried over to social media, as #meteor started trending on Twitter.
We’re working to learn more.
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