Meteorite falls in broad daylight in the USA, pierces house roof

In the middle of the day, a fireball flashed over the southeastern USA and disintegrated with a loud explosion over the state of Georgia. A part of the meteor, the size of a golf ball, pierced the roof of one of the houses. This was reported by UNN with reference to Sky & Telescope magazine.

Details

It is reported that on June 26 at 12:25 PM EDT, a spectacular daytime fireball flashed and then disintegrated southeast of Atlanta, Georgia.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received over 200 reports from 20 states about the bright object that streaked from northeast to southwest over the state.

NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office head Bill Cooke stated that the fireball was moving at approximately 30,000 miles per hour and broke up at an altitude of 27 miles over West Forest, Georgia. Cooke estimated that the meteoroid was about 3 feet wide and weighed over a ton. According to calculations by the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the object hit the atmosphere with a total impact energy of nearly half a kiloton of TNT.

The rapid entry into the atmosphere destroyed the meteoroid, creating a shockwave that produced a loud rumble, which some observers mistook for an earthquake. Many reported thunder and rumbling that lasted 10-15 seconds. While the vast majority of incoming meteorites burn up and turn to dust, a tiny percentage — like the Georgia fall — find their way to the ground as meteorites. Most of these originate from exploding fireballs known as bolides.

Shortly after the sonic boom, someone in McDonough, Georgia, located about 30 miles south of Atlanta, reported that a golf-ball-sized rock had punched a hole in their roof and fallen to the floor. Fortunately, no one was harmed, the report says.

It is reported that meteorite hunters soon arrived in the area and managed to hunt down stony meteorites. Several fragments show stunning flow lines from molten rock trailing along their surfaces. Such features are highly prized by collectors as they provide a freeze-frame of a space rock's transition from space to planet Earth.

Addition

The International Astronomical Union warned about the approach of asteroid 2024 YR4 to Earth. Calculations show that the probability of this object colliding with Earth is 1.2%.