The tracking organization has 90 reports of the fireball seen in states such as Michigan, New York, and Virginia.
A boom that could be heard and felt throughout the day from southern Ontario to Virginia was likely caused by a dissolving meteor, according to an organization in western New York that tracks such phenomena.
Witnesses across the region reported hearing the boom or seeing a fireball in the sky just after noon (5:00 p.m. GMT) Wednesday, said Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society in Geneseo. By 5:00 p.m. (10:00 p.m. GMT), the organization had recorded 90 reports of the fireball seen in Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Police departments and fire departments in central New York received 911 calls reporting a boom that shattered windows, but clouds prevented sightings in much of the area. Since most of the reports of the boom were in the Syracuse area, it is likely that the meteor exploded there, Lunsford said.
The footage of the incident, taken in Toronto, showed a bright white flash in the sky over the city.
A massive #fire ball lit the skies over parts of the United States and Canada this morning. Check out this footage captured by our #EarthCam’s in Toronto. Could it be a meteor? @TourCNTower pic.twitter.com/Qxdz168p0I
– EarthCam (@EarthCam) December 2, 2020
On the company’s website, an observer in western New York reported that the fireball was bright white with shades of yellow. An observer in Hagerstown, Maryland reported a fireball with red and orange sparks, smoke and a persistent puff. A report from Welland, Ontario described a long, light green train.
“A sunny day that made it look like gold, metallic lightning against the blue sky,” according to a report from Winchester, Virginia.
“Amazing, amazing, you still get goosebumps talking about it,” wrote an observer in Port Dover, Ontario. “The train was flaming white, wide and long, no smoke.”
“We tend to notice fireballs more at night because they stick out better, but it’s not terribly uncommon for very bright fireballs to be noticed during the day. It happens several times a year over populated areas, ”said Margaret Campbell-Brown, a member of the meteor physics group at Western University in London, Ontario.
All fireballs, which are bright meteors, create sound waves that sometimes can only be heard by sensitive microphones, Campbell-Brown said via email. A big one can create a thunder-like boom of sound with possible additional pops from fragmentation, she said.
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