Fireball hurtles across night sky over Arizona, videos show. It caught NASA’s attention

Scores of people reported seeing a fireball in the night sky over Arizona, and NASA has some answers, experts said.

The American Meteorological Society said 118 people reported spotting the fireball, also visible from Southern California, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Utah, around 8 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday, April 16.

Three videos posted on the society’s report show the fireball blazing through the sky.

In a Wednesday, April 17, Facebook post, NASA said the fireball was caused by a meteor burning through the Earth’s atmosphere.

Three NASA Fireball Network cameras in southern Arizona also captured views of the fireball, the agency said.

The meteor “became visible at an altitude of 49 miles over the Big Horn Mountains Wilderness” in California, then moved southwest at 32,300 mph, NASA said.

It flew over Interstate 10 and broke up at an altitude off 11 miles over the Eagletail Mountains Wilderness, the agency said.

The fireball “may have produced meteorites in the area west of Gillespie” in Arizona, NASA said. A satellite mapper showed the meteor probably weighed 150 pounds and unleashed energy equal to 2 tons of TNT when it broke up.

This story was originally published April 18, 2024 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Fireball hurtles across night sky over Arizona, videos show. It caught NASA’s attention."