Rare 'bolide' fireball falls from sky, sightings reported across metro Atlanta and broader Southeast

Reports of a "fireball" sighting from the sky on Thursday afternoon have come in from across metro Atlanta and the broader Southeast U.S.

It was described by experts from the American Meteor Society as a bolide, a large and rare fireball that creates a sonic boom.

Sightings have come from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. The National Weather Service station in Charleston noted the reports, saying that "satellite-based lightning detection shows a streak within cloud free sky over the NC/VA border, over Gasbury, VA."

Henry County Emergency Management reported a piece of meteorite fell through someone's roof. Photos showed a hole of about an inch in diameter in the roof.

It's unclear if there were perhaps multiple remnants of the same bolide accounting for the wide geographic zone of sightings.

What is a bolide? What is a fireball?

The NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies further defines bolides as "exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to to be seen over a very wide area."

"They are moving very fast and when they hit Earth's atmosphere they could be going 50,000 MPH or faster, but they quickly decelerate and by the time they come and, and, you know, like they stop all their cosmic velocity at like 20,000 or 30,000 feet up, and by the time they hit your roof, they're going about the speed of a golf ball or maybe a little bit faster," said Mike Hankey, operations manager of the American Meteor Society. "So still hundreds of miles an hour, but a far cry from the 50,000 miles an hour. You don't want to get hit by one. They can cause a lot of harm, damages, they'll go through multiple floors of a home oftentimes, but believe it or not, it is a blessing to have your home hit by a meteorite, because it's a very rare thing to happen as long as no one's hurt in the process."

More observations Thursday

Rockdale County relayed reports of people hearing a "loud sound like a boom" and houses shaking. City of Roswell Fire and the Newton County Sheriff's Office have relayed reports. The National Weather Service Peachtree City office also said it received reports of people concerned about a possible earthquake due to the ground shaking.

11Alive's Cody Alcorn reports that additional sightings have come in from South Carolina and Tennessee.

Josh Grant, as he was driving on I-75 below Buc-ee's around 12:24 p.m. near Warner Robins, Georgia, told 11Alive's sister station in Macon WMAZ that he saw it.

11Alive's sister station in Columbia, S.C., WLTX, also obtained dashcam video.

A number of people also responded to 11Alive Meteorologist Melissa Nord on Facebook relaying their sightings. Those responses came from areas ranging from Riverdale to Suwanee to Covington to Snellville to north Georgia areas such as Ball Ground and Calhoun.

One commenter said her house shook in Flovilla, Georgia. Another said she heard it in Griffin and thought there was an earthquake. A commenter in Stone Mountain said it made a "booming sound, house shook with a long rumble."

"Dogs went crazy," the commenter added.

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