On Tuesday around noon, a strange fireball lit up the daylight sky across much of north Georgia. It very well may have been a meteor, and it certainly mystified residents across the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Witnesses described seeing the fiery celestial object with smoke following its fall, mesmerizing all those who saw it.
Around 12:30 p.m., a loud boom rattled homes across metro Atlanta. Initially, residents assumed the noise was due to the ferocious lightning storms that had struck the region only 24 hours earlier. They thought these storms were creating the loud noises. The story completely shifted in the beginning of January when a piece of meteorite came through the roof of a home in the Atlanta suburbs. This event revealed the source of the mysterious noise that had plagued residents.
Ryan Morrison, director of emergency management for Henry County, which borders on metro Atlanta to the southeast, corroborated the freak occurrence. He described the damage caused by the meteorite, stating, “It pierced through the roof all the way through and cracked through the laminate flooring to the concrete.” The identity of the homeowner has been withheld at his request for the safety of his family. They have an infant son and are fearful of the ordeal. They have asked that local governments not reveal who they are.
Videos and images of the fireball are beginning to appear on social media, showing that incredible flash in the sky that amazed so many across Tennessee and beyond. The meteor’s trajectory and eventual explosion have left local officials scratching their heads, as incidents like this one exist in a sort of legal limbo. Morrison explained that when meteor strikes do occur, it’s seldom that a county finds itself dealing with such a unique natural disaster.
In just the past week, a string of lightning storms have saturated the Atlanta metro area. The residents who heard it at first thought the tremendous noise was just thunder. As discussions about the meteor continue, it remains vital for individuals to understand the distinction between natural phenomena and potential dangers.