A spectacular daylight fireball streaked across the southeastern U.S. on June 26, dazzling residents and triggering sonic booms, with NASA confirming the explosion came from a small asteroid fragment disintegrating above Georgia.
At a Glance
- A meteor lit up skies across six Southeastern states around 12:25 p.m. ET.
- Over 140 eyewitness reports and multiple video captures were logged.
- NASA confirmed it was a one-ton asteroid fragment traveling 30,000 mph.
- The fireball released energy equivalent to 20 tons of TNT.
- A Georgia home sustained minor damage believed linked to the event.
Meteor or Space Debris? NASA Confirms Asteroid
Just after midday on June 26, skywatchers from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida reported a massive daylight fireball cutting through the atmosphere. According to ABC News, the event was bright enough to be visible in full sunlight, with residents sharing dashcam and doorbell video footage online.
NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office analyzed the data and concluded the object was a roughly three-foot-wide asteroid fragment, traveling at an estimated 30,000 miles per hour. It disintegrated at an altitude of 27 miles, unleashing energy on par with a 20-ton TNT blast.
Watch a report: Blazing Bolide Stuns Southeast
Sonic Boom, Property Damage in Georgia
While most fireballs burn up harmlessly, this one may have caused ground-level effects. In Henry County, Georgia, one homeowner reported a golf-ball-sized hole in their ceiling and cracks in their floor following a thunderous boom. The National Weather Service confirmed a shock wave but no seismic activity, indicating the noise stemmed from a sonic boom rather than an earthquake.
Officials are still investigating whether the damage was caused by a surviving meteorite fragment or coincidental structural stress. The incident highlights the unpredictable risks of even small space objects when they enter Earth’s atmosphere over populated regions.
Scientific Significance and Public Safety
Daylight fireballs are exceptionally rare because their brightness must exceed the Sun’s ambient light. According to NASA and the American Meteor Society, this event ranks among the most visible and widely documented U.S. meteor incidents in recent memory.
Experts are now working to reconstruct the fireball’s trajectory using eyewitness accounts and radar data. Public reports—especially those including video—are vital for pinpointing any surviving fragments and advancing research into asteroid impact risks.
As tracking systems improve and more cameras scan the skies, scientists hope to boost early warnings for incoming objects. But as this event showed, even a relatively small asteroid can explode with immense force—and arrive without warning.
