Fireball seen streaking across sky over WA, OR, B.C.
The Seattle Times • • general
Key Points:
- A bright greenish-blue fireball lit up the sky over Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood early Wednesday morning, startling residents like Gerald Tracy and prompting widespread reports on social media and the American Meteor Society’s website.
- More than 100 people across Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia witnessed the event, describing it as spectacular and unlike anything they had seen before.
- NASA notes that this period from February through April is “peak fireball season,” with sightings increasing 10% to 30% due to Earth passing through larger debris fields or the proliferation of cameras capturing such events.
- Fireballs occur when small meteors traveling at speeds over 200,000 mph heat the atmosphere into glowing plasma, creating the bright streaks visible from the ground.
- The Seattle Times is inviting readers to share any videos of the fireball by emailing them to video@seattletimes.com for potential publication.
