A bright fireball streaked across the sky Tuesday afternoon, startling viewers across the tri-state area before burning out over southern New Jersey. NASA said the meteor first became visible at about 2:34 p.m. over the Atlantic Ocean off Mastic Beach on Long Island.
The object moved southwest at roughly 30,000 mph before disintegrating about 27 miles above Galloway Township, New Jersey. Video captured by Brittany Wilhelmy showed the bright meteor fireball as it cut across the sky, and the American Meteor Society logged more than 200 reports from people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Connecticut.
NASA identified the object as a meteor, and the reports show just how far the sighting reached in a matter of seconds. What began over the ocean ended high over New Jersey, but it was visible long enough to trigger a wave of public reaction across five states.
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The question left by the sighting is not what people saw. It is how far a single meteor fireball can travel in plain view before it breaks apart, and Tuesday’s event answered that with a brief, bright run across the afternoon sky.
