Fireball over Ohio and Indiana.

Witnesses across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, and Wisconsin have reported observing a bright fireball meteor slightly after 11.35 pm local time Friday 3 May 2024 (slightly after 3.35 am on Saturday 4 May, GMT). The fireball is described as having moved from southeast to northwest, appearing to the northwest of Columbus and disappearing to the east of Fort Wayne. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry.

The 3 May 2025 fireball meteor, seen from Quincy,  Illinois. Jason Langston/American Meteor Society.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. The brightness of a meteor is caused by friction with the Earth's atmosphere, which is typically far greater than that caused by simple falling, due to the initial trajectory of the object. Such objects typically eventually explode in an airburst called by the friction, causing them to vanish as a luminous object. However, this is not the end of the story as such explosions result in the production of a number of smaller objects, which fall to the ground under the influence of gravity (which does not cause the luminescence associated with friction-induced heating).

Heat map showing areas where sightings of the meteor were reported (warmer colours indicate more sightings), and the apparent path of the object (blue arrow). American Meteor Society.

These 'dark objects' do not continue along the path of the original bolide, but neither do they fall directly to the ground, but rather follow a course determined by the atmospheric currents (winds) through which the objects pass. Scientists are able to calculate potential trajectories for hypothetical dark objects derived from meteors using data from weather monitoring services.

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Fireball meteor over southern Ohio.

The American Meteor Society has received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen over southern Ohion, slightly after 9.40 pm local time on Monday 8 May 2020 (slightly after 1.40 am on Tuesday 9 May GMT). The meteor passed over the Sound from southeast to northwest, disappearing somewhere to the east of Cincinnati. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but may be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry.

Heat map of the Puget Sound area showing areas where sightings of the meteor were reported (warmer colours indicate more sightings), and the apparent path of the object (blue arrow). American Meteor Society.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. The brightness of a meteor is caused by friction with the Earth's atmosphere, which is typically far greater than that caused by simple falling, due to the initial trajectory of the object. Such objects typically eventually explode in an airburst called by the friction, causing them to vanish as an luminous object. However this is not the end of the story as such explosions result in the production of a number of smaller objects, which fall to the ground under the influence of gravity (which does not cause the luminescence associated with friction-induced heating).

 

These 'dark objects' do not continue along the path of the original bolide, but neither do they fall directly to the ground, but rather follow a course determined by the atmospheric currents (winds) through which the objects pass. Scientists are able to calculate potential trajectories for hypothetical dark objects derived from meteors using data from weather monitoring services.

 

Witness reports can help astronomers to understand these events. If you witness a fireball-type meteor over the US you can report it to the American Meteor Society here. 

 

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Fireball over Ohio.

The American Meteor Society has received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen over Ohio slightly after 3.30 am Eastern Daylight Time (slightly after 7.30 am GMT) on Monday 24 September 2018. The majority of the reports came from Ohio, but sightings were also reported from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ontrio. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry. The object appeared to move southwest-to-northeast, first appearing about 10 km to the north of Williamsport and vanishing over Ankenytowm.

Map showing areas where sightings of the meteor were reported, and the route of the object (blue arrow). American Meteor Society.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. The brightness of a meteor is caused by friction with the Earth's atmosphere, which is typically far greater than that caused by simple falling, due to the initial trajectory of the object. Such objects typically eventually explode in an airburst called by the friction, causing them to vanish as an luminous object. However this is not the end of the story as such explosions result in the production of a number of smaller objects, which fall to the ground under the influence of gravity (which does not cause the luminescence associated with friction-induced heating).

 

These 'dark objects' do not continue along the path of the original bolide, but neither do they fall directly to the ground, but rather follow a course determined by the atmospheric currents (winds) through which the objects pass. Scientists are able to calculate potential trajectories for hypothetical dark objects derived from meteors using data from weather monitoring services.

 

Witness reports can help astronomers to understand these events. If you witness a fireball-type meteor over the US you can report it to the American Meteor Society here.   

 

See also...

 

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Fireball over the American Midwest.

The American Meteor Society has received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen over much of the American Midwest slightly before 1.30 am local time (slightly before 7.30 GMT) on Monday 6 February 2017. The fireball was seen across Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Ontario, New York, Kentucky and Minnesota, though the majority of sightings came from Illinois and Wisconsin. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry. The meteor is described as having a greenish colour, which may indicate it had a high magnesium content. It passed from southwest to northeast, and is thought to have ended its journey somewhere over Lake Michigan (in this context 'ended its journey' means exploded due to friction induced heating; this typically happens high in the atmosphere, with smaller chunks of the object falling to Earth in relative darkness).

Dashcam images of the 6 February 2017 Midwest meteor. Lisle Police Department/American Meteor Society.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. It is possible that this object will have produced meteorites that reached the surface (an object visible in the sky is a meteor, a rock that falls from the sky and can be physically held and examined is a meteorite).

Witness reports can help astronomers to understand these events. If you witnessed this fireball you can report it to the American Meteor Society here.  

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Car and driver swallowed by Ohio sinkhole.

An Ohio woman and her car were swallowed by a 3 m sinkhole that opened up before her on North Detroit Avenue in Toledo in the northwest of the state on Wednesday 3 July 2013. Pamela Knox, 60, saw the hole start to open up beneath the car in front of her, which was able to accelerate away, but was unable to prevent herself from from falling in. She was rescued unhurt by the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, and taken to a local hospital as a precaution. The sinkhole was apparently caused by a burst water main that washed sediments from beneath the road.

Car trapped inside the Toledo sinkhole. Matthew Hertzfeld/AP.

A member of Toledo Fire and Rescue Department Rescuing Ms Knox from the hole. Toledo Police Department.

See also Iowa sinkhole linked to nineteenth century mines, Man swallowed by sinkhole in Shenzhen, South China, Florida man swallowed by sinkhole in home and Massive sinkhole opens up in Assumption Parish, Louisiana.

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Earthquake shakes Cleveland, Ohio.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 3.2 Earthquake at a depth of 6.0 km beneath Lake Erie, roughly 6 km northwest of Fairport or 40 km northeast of Cleveland, lightly before 3.50 am local time (slightly before 7.50 am, GMT), on Monday 1 July 2013. No damage or casualties have been reported, but witnesses reported feeling the quake along much of the Ohio shore of the Lake.

The location of the 1 July 2013 quake beneath lake Erie. Google Maps.

Earthquakes in northwest Ohio are not infrequent, but seldom cause significant damage (although concerns have been raised that the potential for a serious quake in the region exists). These are associated with the Akron-Suffield Fault System, which formed during the Appalachian Orogeny during the between 325 and 260 million years ago, when the closing Iapetus Ocean caused the North American and African plates to collide, leading to uplift that formed the Appalachian Mountains, and intra-plate faulting within the North American Plate, as the plate buckled under the stress. This is not obvious at the surface, as the faulting occurred in Precambrian basement rocks, which are buried under hundreds of meters of glacial and post-glacial Pleistocene and Holocene deposits. 

Witness accounts of quakes can help geologists to understand these events and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt this quake you can report it to the USGS here.

See also Quebec Earthquake felt in New York, Vermont, Earthquake in southeast Missouri, Earthquake in eastern Kentucky, Earthquake under Maine shakes New England, Earthquake in Labrador, Canada and Oklahoma shaken by Earthquake on Christmas Day.

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