Numerous eyewitnesses in the San Francisco Bay area reported seeing a fireball on November 30, 2020 at 6:20 PM Pacific Standard Time (2020 December 1 2:20 UTC). An analysis of their reports indicates that the meteor was first seen 56 miles above the Pacific Ocean, about 50 miles off the coast of California's Jackson Demonstration Forest, moving slightly west of north at 66,000 miles per hour. After travelling 101 miles through Earth's upper atmosphere, it ablated at an altitude of 39 miles above the Pacific. The event was also recorded by an EarthCam at Lake Tahoe, which was used to constrain the meteor's speed.
Event ID | 20201201-022000 |
Date (UTC) | Dec. 1, 2020 |
Time (UTC) | 02:20:00 |
AMS Event | 7206-2020 |
Chicken Little Start Lat/Lon | +38.559, -124.689 |
Chicken Little End Lat/Lon | +39.994, -124.844 |
Chicken Little Altitude | 90.6 km → 62.0 km ( 56.3 miles→ 38.6 miles) |
Chicken Little Speed | 29.6 km/s (66,200 mph) |