NASA Left Slackjawed As Huge Meteor Fireball Lights-Up The Sky Over North Carolina

NASA Meteor Watch confirmed what many across nearly a dozen states saw and heard in the early morning hours of August 30 was indeed a meteor. The space agency added the meteor event began about 45 miles above Piney Flats, Tennessee, and moved south and eastward at a breakneck speed of 31,300 miles per hour.

The American Meteor Society added it had received over 150 reports of onlookers seeing and hearing the event. While most reports originated from Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, a handful of reports came from South Carolina and Western Kentucky. NASA’s analysis of the event suggested the asteroidal fragment weighed around 1,000 pounds and was approximately 2 feet in diameter before disintegrating over North Carolina.


“The breakup produced an energy of 10 tons of TNT, which generated a pressure wave that propagated to the ground, causing the booms heard by many of the eyewitnesses,” the space agency remarked.

There were plenty of videos being shared of the event, as can be seen in the videos above and below. One witness remarked, “Never seen anything like it before. Not like a comet. Not a long tail but bright green and fast.” They continued, “Had to have crashed on right side of I-40 East but never saw an explosion. It was wild.”

Andy Tester, who witnessed the event firsthand, remarked, “It started getting brighter and brighter and brighter. I honestly could not process what was happening.” Tester added, “I saw this humongous ball of light flying through the sky. About two minutes later, this humongous rumble [started]. I mean, it felt like it was in the depths of the Earth rumbling.”


Strewnify, which tracks meteorites, reported about the event on X, remarking, “BIG Meteorite fall near Spruce Pine, North Carolina this morning! Doppler radar indicates meteorites on the ground.”

If anyone comes in contact with a possible meteorite fragment from the fireball event on Saturday morning, they are asked not to touch the fragments with their hands, as it could contaminate the space rock’s potential data for scientists. Those who believe they may have found a piece of the meteorite are encouraged to reach out Appalachian State’s Geology Department at loveab@appstate.edu or call 828-262-6952.