Meteor — described as ‘Biggest ball of fire’ by shocked witnesses

According to Starlust.org, a fireball was spotted over southern Tennessee around 7:45 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 5. The meteor was detected by four NASA All Sky cameras, and analysis revealed it was a small part of an asteroid measuring about 2 inches in diameter and weighing 6 ounces. Starlust.org reported that the object was first seen 53 miles above the town of Robbinsville in North Carolina, traveling south of west at 47,000 miles per hour, and disintegrated 25 miles above East Ridge, Tennessee, just southeast of Chattanooga. Witnesses described the event, with the New York Post noting it was described as a \'Biggest ball of fire\' by shocked witnesses.

Despite its tremendous speed, Starlust.org stated that no audible booms were reported in relation to the meteor. A similarly noiseless meteor was seen over Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and parts of British Columbia the previous month. Washington and Oregon also saw a fireball in late August that did not produce any audible booms.

Starlust.org noted that the fireball-swarm component of the Southern Taurid meteor shower was expected to peak around the night the fireball appeared above Tennessee. However, NASA clarified that the meteor was not part of the ongoing Taurid meteor showers. Skywatchers may see more fireballs in the coming days, specifically on the nights of November 11 and 12, when the Northern Taurid meteor shower is expected to peak.

Based on NASA estimates from Starlust.org, roughly 48.5 tons of material fall to Earth every day, with a few meteors originating from the Moon and Mars. Sometimes asteroid or meteoroid parts survive fiery atmospheric entry and reach the surface, endangering homes and public buildings. This prompted the UN-backed Space Mission Planning Advisory Group to recently test readiness against a hypothetical asteroid impact, and NASA's Near-Earth Object Surveyor took a major step toward launch last month.