Bright balls of fire were observed rising throughout the southern United States this weekend, and despite several witnesses, it remains unknown what the enigmatic objects were.
According to the American Meteor Society, people saw the fireballs all over the South, with the majority of witnesses coming from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Two reports came in from Carrollton, Georgia, shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday.
“At first, I thought it might be an aircraft in distress slowly descending toward the local West Georgia airport,” a woman named Beth P. noted in her submission. “I called the airport to report it. They received no distress calls, but after I emailed them the video, they commented that it looked like a fireball!”
According to witness recordings, there was first one enormous object that split up in the night sky, resulting in a lingering flame rain in our atmosphere.
Could that have been a meteor? What about space debris?
“I don’t think it’s a comet or a meteor,” WBRZ meteorologist Malcolm Byron said on X (previously Twitter). “When these fireballs persist longer than ten seconds, they are usually caused by a satellite or other space trash reentering the atmosphere. Not confirmed, but that’s my guess.”
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell believes the mysterious fireball was a Chinese satellite that burned up after reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.
McClatchy News has contacted NASA for comment.
While space debris seldom creates such a fiery sight, man-made items frequently fall to Earth from outer space, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“On average, between 200 and 400 monitored objects enter Earth’s atmosphere each year. That is approximately one per day, according to NOAA. “This is primarily a numbers game. Human populations occupy a small percentage of the Earth’s overall surface area. So, any objects that do not burn up and disintegrate upon re-entry into the atmosphere are likely to fall into the ocean (which covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface) or a sparsely populated land location.
