Meteor that fell over North Carolina packed force of 10 tonnes of TNT
Meteor in US
A fireball streaked through the skies in the Southeastern US on August 30 and was seen from Tennessee down to North Carolina. Moving at a speed of over 31,000 mph, the fireball was a meteor that streaked through the pre-dawn sky putting on an awe-inspiring show. NASA confirmed that it was indeed a meteor.
The space rock was analysed and it was revealed to be around 1,000 pounds in weight and two feet wide. It burnt up as it moved through the atmosphere and its remains were strewn over the North Carolina town of Altapass.
The most scary piece of NASA's report was the strength with which the meteor broke apart. As the rock disintegrated, it generated the energy of 10 tonnes of TNT, the space agency said.
This led to a powerful shockwave that travelled all the way to the ground. People reported hearing loud booms minutes after the fireball streaked across the skies. "Never seen anything like it before. Not like a comet," one witness in Tennessee told Fox News.
Meteors are not uncommon in this part of the country, but a rock this big is rare.
NASA Meteor watch posted a video on Facebook
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People also shared videos on social media.
Videos captured by certain onlookers show a brilliant green light streaking across the sky which soon turns into a radiant orange fireball before breaking apart. The meteor was also detected by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper aboard the GOES-16 spacecraft.
As per experts, large impacts of meteors on Earth are rare.
Also Read:Meteorite fell in South Africa this weekend for the first time in 50 years
Only a handful of meteors make it to the surface every year. This one reportedly made it to the surface, and as per meteor tracking group Strewnify, it was scattered across the North Carolina countryside.
Meteor falls in South Africa
On August 25, a meteorite entered the Earth's atmosphere over South Africa, a first in over 50 years. The meteorite caused a sonic boom that was heard kilometres away. The last time a meteorite fell in South Africa was in Lichtenburg in 1973. The country has recorded only 51 meteorites till now, and only 22 meteorite falls.
