Midday fireball, thrill seekers from Ontario to Virginia

SYRACUSE, NY (AP) – A midday boom that was heard and felt from southern Ontario to Virginia was likely caused by a disintegrating meteor, according to an organization in western New York which is keeping track of these phenomena.

Witnesses in the area reported hearing the boom or seeing a fireball in the sky shortly after noon on Wednesday, said Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society in Geneseo. As of 5 p.m., the organization had recorded 90 reports of the fireball sighted in Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Central New York City Police and Fire Departments received calls to 911 signaling a boom that shook windows, but clouds prevented sightings in much of the area. Given that most reports of the boom took place around Syracuse, this is likely where the meteor exploded to pieces, Lunsford said.

On the company’s website, an observer from western New York City reported that the fireball was stark white with undertones of yellow. An observer in Hagerstown, Maryland reported a fireball with red and orange sparks, smoke, and a lingering train. A report from Welland, Ontario describes a long, light green train.

“Sunny day, so it looked like a golden metallic flash on the blue sky,” said a report from Winchester, Va.

“Amazing, incredible, we still get goosebumps talking about it,” wrote one observer in Port Dover, Ont. “The train was blazing white, wide and long, smoke-free.

“We tend to notice fireballs more at night because they stand out better, but it’s not terribly unusual for very bright balls to be noticed during the day. This happens several times a year in populated areas, ”said Margaret Campbell-Brown, member of the Meteor Physics Group at Western University in London, Ont.

All of the fireballs, which are bright meteors, produce sound waves, sometimes detectable only by sensitive microphones, Campbell-Brown said via email. A large one can produce a thunder-like sound boom with possible extra bangs due to fragmentation, she said.

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