Bright Green Fireball Seen Over Pacific Northwest Skies – Report Sightings!

A bright green fireball streaked across the skies of the Pacific Northwest around 6:06 a.m. Local time on Monday, March 23, 2026, prompting reports from observers in Oregon and Washington state.

Jim Todd, Director of Space Science Education at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), confirmed the sighting. According to Todd, meteors, often called shooting stars, are modest celestial objects that enter Earth’s atmosphere. A fireball, he explained, is a particularly bright meteor visible from approximately 60 to 80 miles above the Earth’s surface.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received reports of the fireball from as far south as Portland, Oregon and as far north as Snohomish, Washington. Todd described the process of a meteor’s passage through the atmosphere, stating that high speeds create friction, heating and vaporizing the object.

Todd’s career at OMSI began with an internship in 1984, although he was still a student at Portland State University. He graduated from PSU in 1986 with a Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Science. He initially considered a career in architecture, but a chance encounter while working at a football game led him to a position teaching robotics for the Talented and Gifted program in Multnomah County. He has remained at OMSI ever since, educating students from preschool through college.

The AMS is requesting that individuals who observed the meteor submit reports via their fireball report page. KATU, a local Portland news station, is likewise collecting photos and videos of the event through its ChimeIn platform.