by A fiery meteor shot across the sky above the Great Lakes on Monday (Oct. 21) just after sunset, stunning witnesses from Michigan to New York, Kentucky and North Carolina.
Witnesses in 10 states, stretching from Michigan to North Carolina, reported spotting the blazing meteor around 7 p.m. ET. So far, the American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 534 reports of the fiery space rock. Experts estimated the meteor's trajectory and found that it likely ended just offshore from Erie, Pennsylvania.
The fireball occurred at an altitude of about 50 miles (80 kilometers), meaning it was visible across several U.S. states and in Canada, EarthSky reported.
This fireball is one of the largest documented in recent months, according to the website.
It appears to have been a random event and unrelated to the currently active Taurid meteor shower. The Taurids peak from late October to mid-November and can produce a handful of visible events per hour.
Monday's fireball zipped across the sky from west to east, first appearing offshore in Lake County, Ohio.
Its estimated trajectory, mapped by the AMS, shows it covered a distance of roughly 60 miles (100 km) above Lake Erie — the fourth-largest by surface area of North America's five great lakes.
Source
Witnesses in 10 states, stretching from Michigan to North Carolina, reported spotting the blazing meteor around 7 p.m. ET. So far, the American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 534 reports of the fiery space rock. Experts estimated the meteor's trajectory and found that it likely ended just offshore from Erie, Pennsylvania.
The fireball occurred at an altitude of about 50 miles (80 kilometers), meaning it was visible across several U.S. states and in Canada, EarthSky reported.
This fireball is one of the largest documented in recent months, according to the website.
It appears to have been a random event and unrelated to the currently active Taurid meteor shower. The Taurids peak from late October to mid-November and can produce a handful of visible events per hour.
Monday's fireball zipped across the sky from west to east, first appearing offshore in Lake County, Ohio.
Its estimated trajectory, mapped by the AMS, shows it covered a distance of roughly 60 miles (100 km) above Lake Erie — the fourth-largest by surface area of North America's five great lakes.
Source
Brad Hague via American Meteor Society)
