Event: 20210815-030011
Eyewitnesses in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania report seeing a bright fireball on August 14, 2021 at almost exactly 11 PM Eastern Daylight Time (2021 August 15 3:00 UTC). The event was also captured in 3 NASA all sky meteor cameras located in the region (at Oberlin and Hiram Colleges in Ohio and Allegheny Observatory near Pittsburgh), and an analysis of the data provided by these systems has permitted the determination of the meteor's trajectory and its orbit prior to entering the atmosphere.
The fireball first became visible 59 miles above Defiance County in Ohio, midway between Ney and Evansport. Moving southeast at 60,000 miles per hour, it traveled 67 miles through the upper atmosphere before ablating 28 miles above the town of McGuffey, in Hardin County. The trajectory and brightness of the fireball - which rivaled that of a quarter Moon - indicate that it was caused by a piece of a comet 5 inches in diameter and weighing about 5 pounds.
This was not a Perseid meteor.
NASA Images and Videos
Event Data
| Event ID | 20210815-030011 |
| Date (UTC) | Aug. 15, 2021 |
| Time (UTC) | 03:00:11 |
| AMS Event | 4782-2021 |
| Magnitude | -6.0 |
| Size | 5in or 5lbs |
| Origin | cometary |
| NASA Camera Start Lat/Lon | +41.376, -84.434 |
| NASA Camera End Lat/Lon | +40.677, -83.749 |
| NASA Camera Altitude | 95.2 km → 45.4 km ( 59.2 miles→ 28.2 miles) |
| NASA Camera Speed | 27.2 km/s (60,800 mph) |