Fire in the SE Sky May be Linked to Home Damage in Georgia

An object bright enough to be seen streaking across the midday sky fell across parts of the Southeast U.S. on Thursday.

The object was likely either a meteor or space junk, with most sightings of the streak of light and fireball coming from Georgia and South Carolina around 12:30 p.m., the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia, said on social media.

Someone in Henry County, Georgia, reported a rock coming through their roof about the time they heard the sonic boom from the fireball. It left behind a hole in the ceiling about the size of a golf ball and a crack in a laminate floor, the weather service said.

Emergency officials are investigating the object that fell about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.

Dashboard and doorbell cameras across several Southeast U.S. states caught glimpses of the fireball that appeared to be plummeting straight down. More than 140 people in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee reported the object to the American Meteor Society.

Meteors and other space debris frequently enter Earth’s atmosphere, but it is rare for an object to be so bright it can easily be seen in broad daylight.

Bright fireballs are caused by friction as an object enters the atmosphere and slows down considerably. Almost all objects break into minuscule pieces before striking the ground, according to NASA.

Photo: The fireball near McDonough, Georgia, taken from a video. (Bryan Jennings Updyke via AP)