If you weren’t outside around 10:15 p.m. last night in Florida, you may want to check your security cameras.
If they’re facing east, they may have captured footage of a rare fireball soaring — and dramatically exploding — in the sky along the east coast of Florida and the Bahamas.
Late Monday evening, witnesses from Jacksonville to Miami reported seeing a fiery explosion illuminating the sky. Some heard a sonic boom. The fireball prompted calls to the National Weather Service and nearly 200 reports to the American Meteor Society.
The fireball was likely a piece of an asteroid, technically called a ‘bolide’ because it blows up at the end, according to Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society.
Social media users share videos
Social media users from areas including Marco Island, Parkland and Lakeland took to Twitter to share videos of the asteroid from their backyards and security cameras.
Reporter catches fireball on Facebook Live
Reporter Jay O’Brien was filming a Facebook Live for West Palm Beach’s WPEC CBS12 News when the apparent asteroid exploded in the sky.
Twitter reactions from National Weather Service, American Meteor Society
The National Weather Service Tampa Bay confirmed via Twitter that a Geostationary Lightning Mapper appeared to have captured the bolide as it burned up off the coast of Florida.
The American Meteor Society also posted a callout to their Twitter page, asking anyone who saw the fireball to report it at fireball.amsmeteors.org.
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