A fireball streaked across the sky on Tuesday afternoon, flashing over the Northeast and drawing more than 200 reports from people who saw it from multiple states. NASA said the meteor first became visible at about 2:34 p.m., when it was roughly 48 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Mastic Beach on Long Island.
The object raced southwest at about 30,000 mph before disintegrating about 27 miles above Galloway Township, New Jersey. Video of the fireball was captured by Brittany Wilhelmy, adding a clear visual to a moment that spread quickly across the tri-state area and beyond.
The American Meteor Society logged reports from people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Connecticut, underscoring how widely the fireball was seen. It was visible across the tri-state area and the Northeast, a path that matched the surge of accounts collected within hours on Tuesday afternoon.
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What made the event stand out was not just the speed or the altitude, but the fact that it broke up over a populated corridor and left a trail of witnesses across five states. For people who looked up at the right moment, the answer to what they saw is now clear: it was a meteor that burned bright, crossed the region fast and fell apart before reaching the ground.
