Did you see the meteor rush across our sky on Tuesday?
A bright daytime fireball lit up the skies over the Northeast on Tuesday, April 7, at 2:34 p.m. EDT, with eyewitnesses (several folks on this page) reporting the sighting across Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
According to NASA, the meteor first became visible at an altitude of 48 miles above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the shore of Mastic Beach on Long Island. Traveling southwest at a blistering 30,000 mph, the fireball blazed a 117-mile path through the upper atmosphere before disintegrating at 27 miles above Galloway, New Jersey—north of Atlantic City.
Hundreds of people submitted reports to the American Meteor Society, describing the rare midday event. No injuries or damage were reported, and experts note that while most meteors burn up completely, fragments occasionally survive to become meteorites.
This was one of several bright fireballs observed in recent weeks, though daytime sightings are especially uncommon due to the need for exceptional brightness to stand out against sunlight.
