Rare meteor lights up California sky over SLO County
San Luis Obispo Tribune • • science
Key Points:
- A rare fireball was seen across California on Sunday night, traveling at 35,000 mph and disintegrating 29 miles above Calflax after covering 58 miles through the upper atmosphere, according to NASA Space Alerts.
- The fireball was unrelated to recent bright meteors and generated over 230 sighting reports from California, Arizona, and Nevada, as recorded by the American Meteor Society.
- Witnesses described the fireball as exceptionally bright and colorful, with hues of blue, green, red, and orange, and some observed it breaking into fiery fragments as it streaked across the sky.
- Several observers initially mistook the fireball for missiles, fireworks, or drones, with some also reporting hearing a faint boom shortly after the sighting.
- The event left many viewers amazed, with one witness from San Luis Obispo County calling it unlike anything they had ever seen before.
