GRANDFATHER, N.C. — A bright line shooting across the night sky and the sound of an explosion is what many are describing after a suspected meteor shot across the night sky early Friday morning.
Home security cameras recorded the fireball shooting across the Tennessee and North Carolina night sky around 1:15 a.m. on Friday morning. Witness accounts show the fireball was first visible over eastern Tennesse before crossing into the skies over western North Carolina.
Appearing first as a dot streaking across the night sky, the light grows in intensity as the meteor appears to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. The bright light was followed a few moments later by an explosion-like sound. Videos, like the one shared by Tim Ballisty on X, were one of many showing the meteor streaking across the night sky.
The flash of light from the meteor was so bright, it was detected by a weather satellite that normally scans the sky for lightning. Without storms in the area, the satellite imagery is another piece of data supporting the light's source as a meteor.
This particular meteor appears to be unique, according to WCNC Weather Impact Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich.
"How long it was visible, how slow it was, and the sonic boom... This usually means a larger size meteor," Panovich explained. "Most meteors that are fast and faint are the size of a grain of sand. This was likely much, much larger."
This shallow approach angle means the meteor traveled lower and into more of Earth's atmosphere than a typical meteor, according to Panovich.
"It was visible longer due to the size and not completely burning up, which, along with the sonic boom, means fragments could have made it to the surface of the Earth," he said.
If that's the case, tiny pieces of the meteor may have reached Earth's surface, Panovich believes. If so, they would be the size of small pebbles and detectable with a metal detector.
Any piece of a meteor that survives the atmosphere and reaches the Earth's surface would be called a meteorite.
Social media video shared with WCNC Charlotte from Lake Norman shows the meteor was visible as far east as this northern Charlotte suburb.
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