"Earthgrazer" Meteor Over Southern USA

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Earthgrazer Seen In The Southern Sky

At 8:38:30 PM CDT, a basketball size meteoroid entered the atmosphere 63 miles above Columbia, South Carolina. Moving northwest at 78,000 miles per hour, it burned up 52 miles above the Tennessee country side, just north of Chattanooga. This fireball was not part of any meteor shower and belongs to a class of meteors called Earthgrazers. These meteors skim along the upper part of the atmosphere before burning up. This one travelled a distance of 290 miles, which is quite rare for a meteor.

Credit: NASA/MSFC

Source: NASA/MArshall - Multimedia