Event: 20230802-061314

Numerous eyewitnesses in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio and West Virginia have reported seeing a bright fireball early on August 2 at 2:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time (6:13 UTC); there are also reports of loud noises resembling sonic booms from the Appalachia area. Analysis of the available data – eyewitnesses, camera data and infrasound – indicate that the meteor first appeared 50 miles above the Kentucky town of Krypton, moving roughly southeast at 37,000 miles per hour. The object – a cometary fragment weighing about 75 pounds with a diameter of just over a foot – traveled 65 miles through the atmosphere before disintegrating 30 miles above Duffield, Virginia. The breakup of the fireball generated an energy of roughly 2 tons of TNT, which caused the booms and shakings experienced by some in the region.

At its brightest the fireball was about 5 times brighter than the Full Moon.

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Event Data