NASA Films Huge Fireball Over Alabama

At 10:19 p.m. CDT on Aug. 2, NASA meteor cameras detected a very bright fireball at an altitude of 57 miles above Hoodoo Road just east of the town of Beechgrove, Tennessee. The meteoroid was about 15 inches in diameter and weighed close to 100 lbs. It travelled just over 100 miles to the south-southeast at 47,000 mph, breaking apart in a brilliant flash of light above the Alabama town of Henagar. The cameras continued to track a large fragment until it disappeared 18 miles above Gaylesville, located near Lake Weiss close to the Georgia state line. At last sight, the fragment was still traveling at 11,000 mph! Based on the meteor's speed, final altitude and weak doppler radar signatures, it is believed that this fireball produced small meteorites on the ground somewhere in the vicinity. (NASA/MSFC/MEO)