What to know about 'fireball season' as the number of visible meteors peaks for the year

Key Points:

• The United States has experienced an unusually high number of bright meteors, or fireballs, during the peak "fireball season" from February to April 2026, with March seeing an unprecedented surge in large meteor events.
• The American Meteor Society (AMS) reported over 2,000 individual meteor events in early 2026, including numerous large fireballs that produced sonic booms and even damaged property, indicating genuinely larger meteors entering Earth's atmosphere.
• While the total number of fireballs is only slightly higher than previous years, the frequency of large meteor events has increased significantly, with many originating from known space debris streams like the "Anthelion" sporadic stream.
• Enhanced detection and reporting, aided by widespread use of cameras on smartphones and vehicles, may contribute to the increased number of meteor sightings, though the exact cause of the surge remains unclear.
• Notable recent events include a one-ton meteor breaking up with a sonic boom in late March and a rare Diogenite meteorite over Europe in early March, with some meteorite fragments recovered in the U.S.; experts remain uncertain about how long this elevated activity will continue.