9:09:00 PM

Breaking Meteor News...Major Large Bright Green Fireball Bolide AL-SC-GA-FL 10-10:15 PM EDT 29APR2011...Sonic Booms Reported

An update including video/imagery of this event has ben posted at  
http://elpasoallsky.blogspot.com/2011/05/update-major-bolide-event-fl-ga-sc-al.html


***Videos/Photos Requested...If you have or know of video or photos taken of this event please pass them/info along for others to see. Full attribution!*** Thank you.

From The Chatbox...



Apr 30 2011, 9:08 AM Guest729 (guest): 
My name is Jenalyn P. and I live in Macon, Georgia. We were heading southbound on the 475 when we saw what looked like a shooting star, until it got closer. As it did, we could see the actual rock and flame trail. I assume it hit somewhere because the sky lit up a few seconds after it left our sights. We couldn't hear anything, so I'm not too sure.   your assumption is probably correct! thank you Jenalyn

Apr 30 2011, 9:22 AM Michelle Mortz Nowalinski:
I see the meteor last night in callaway Fl. I reported it to the American Meteor Society. It was 9pm central time. It was White, red and orange with a fiery tail that lingered afterward.. And so bright, it looked like the sun falling from the sky, and very close. I had never seen anything like it. I was driving south and it was falling south east, I heard no noise. you can see my exact location on my report on other site along with a ton of other sitings. Thanks for the interesting site.   you're welcome and thank you Michelle!

Apr 30 2011, 10:16 AM Chem Doc:
I was stargazing with 15 of my college students when we witnessed the bolide - Wow! It was around 10pm, and we were in a field near Bronwood, GA (Southwest GA). It "evaporated" just before it reached the treeline to the SSE.   thanks doc!

Apr 30 2011, 12:39 AM Jon Allen:
My name is Jonathan B Allen I live in Valdosta , Ga Around 10-10:30 on Apr 29,2011 i saw a bright fire ball fly across the sky heading east bound about 2 minutes after it flew out of sight i heard a loud boom in the descents.
Apr 30 2011, 12:45 AM
Jon Allen: It was really bright like a strobe light  thanks for this report Jon!...sonics very important

Apr 29 2011, 11:20 PM Guest27 (guest):
Green red fireball sirghted from Tampa looking north moved from notheast to southeast between 10- 11:00 PM really cool have not seen one that good in a long time

Guest47 (guest): Anthony E. Cottondale, FL:
Saw brilliant white fireball falling from NE to due east over Marianna, FL It was 45 degrees above horizon and fell to horizon due East of where I was. It was brilliant white with greenish yellow tail. Awesome!Apr 29 2011, 10:57 PM
Guest47 (guest): Time was 9:03 pm CT   thanks Anthony!


Apr 29 2011, 10:42 PM Guest92 (guest): 
I saw it driving east on I-10, 15 miles west of Marianna. It looked very low (disappeared beneath the treeline). It was just ahead and to the left of us (northeast sky?) and burnt bright in orange and green. Amazing sight.
Apr 29 2011, 10:42 PM
Guest92 (guest): that was Ryan C (guest92)...time was just around 10pm  thank you Ryan!

Apr 29 2011, 10:00 PMGuest117 (guest): I witnessed the fireball in the sky around 10pm tonight, I live in Camden County, GA in the area called Tarboro,I was facing west and the fireball seemed blueish/white at the front and flaming from the tail. It moved across the western sky right to left. It was very bright and the sky sort of flickered before the meteor showed up, sort of like a dim flash across the whole sky then I saw it, it moved in the sky for probably 8 seconds of so. It was great after I got over the shock of seeing it! In a very remote area where it's completely dark it was kind of a freakish thing to see!!!

Apr 29 2011, 9:17 PM: Harleykira (guest): gosh its about 9:55 pm in Bradenton florida and i saw very bright reddish,orange flame in the sky and i wish i have a camera with me i would take a pic of it,its was HUGE and we thought a plane but i just found out it not.its so neat

Apr 29 2011, 8:42 PM: Megamartha Kick-butt Wykydtron: Driving in the Tucker, GA, USA area on highway 285 going south, myself and my roommate witnessed a green flaming object falling in the sky very quickly towards the ground. Looked too large to be a firework, couldn't tell how far away it was. We would both REALLY like to know what this object was, the flame trail behind it was definitely green, with some orange in the center. Possibly a satellite part or something else? oh, the time was about 10:00 pm, and the flaming object was travelling (from my vantage point_ southeastward.


Apr 29 2011, 9:09 PM: OneEarWillie (guest): I saw a large fireball at about the same time over Kingsland, GA. In the western sky. it was the largest/brightest meteorite I've ever seen. I could see burning bits trailing off behind it. Looked bright white to me with reddish trail of fragments

Emails From:
Dick Marti-Tifton, GA: 
I was outside in my backyard observing the region around Spica in the constellation Virgo and was using my 20x80 parallelogram-mounted binoculars. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and pushed the binoculars away and looked up. It was a large and bright meteor, predominately green in color, finishing with bright orange. Estimated magnitude was minus 11. I first saw it near Regulus. It moved rather slowly for a meteor and took about 5 seconds to flare out east of Spica. It must have been visible somewhat longer than that, however. If there was a sonic boom associated with it, I missed it because I immediately went into the house to tell my wife. My location is Tifton, GA, 31d 28' 33" North, 83d 29' 29" West and local time was 10:04pm eastern. There was no explosion.


Anonymous In Lake Park, GA:
My daughter was walking the dog and she seen this Orange light with a yellow tail. I walked out the other way about two minutes later and heard a big boom that shook the house. What was it?



Jim In Summerfield Florida: Five of us were coming back from Walt Disney World April 29th, 2011 traveling north on US 27/441 near Leesburg at about
10:00 - 10:10 pm saw a large meteor.  Burning bright coming in on about a 45 degree angle with a nice tail trailing behind.
Moving from approximately NW to SE.  We could see it for about 5 seconds then lost it from behind the tree line.  Don't know if
it impacted or not.

Tom Strouder-Leesburg FL: About 10:04 pm 4/29/2011 looking North from the Leesburg area of Florida, I saw the northern sky light up illuminating the ground like a military flare. The object appeared in the N/W about 70 degrees above the horizon and traveled towards the horizon to the N/E.  It had a bright white head and a long gaseous tail about 40 degrees in length, illuminating between green and blue.


Dr. John Randallson-Lakeland, GA: Sitting and watching TV when the whole house suddenly shook. It was as if a bomb had went off outside. Went outside and my uncle was standing there saying that he just saw a bright flashing light at about tree-height falling to the ground. Took place a few miles north of Lakeland, Georgia.

Anonymous Writes: green red fireball fri 29 april north of Tampa moving from northeast to southeast aprox 11:00 PM curious any other witnesses

cderrick1: Ocoee FL:  My wife and I observed the fire ball shortly after 10 PM. Our viewing has the ball headed almost straight down, about 10 degrees west of due north, and appeared to burn out just before tree line. There was no noise with our viewing.

Kevin Felton-Americus, Ga:  around 10 pm last night we saw this flaming greenish bright object falling across the sky moving from west to east. When I posted on Facebook what I had just witnessed several other people commented saying that they saw the same thing down in the Albany, Ga area. We didn't hear any sounds after seeing it though.

ChemDoc-Bronwood, GA: I was stargazing with a group of my college students when we saw the object around 10pm.  We were near Bronwood, GA (at 31.8310°N, 84.3640°W). When I looked up, it was at roughly azi 160, alt 80, travelling East.  It kept getting brighter and brighter until it developed a head and tail.  It “evaporated” just before it reached the treeline near us (SSE of us).  15 of us saw it.

Charlie Eavenson-Covington, GA: At about 10:05 pm April 29, 2011, 14 of us were sitting around a campfire outside our home near Covington, GA (30 miles southeast of Atlanta). One person said "Look at that, look at that!" We all turned to look south & saw a very bright white-green brilliant light, falling from southwest to southeast at a low angle. Suddenly it erupted into a huge orange fireball, then it disappeared just above the treeline. The person who saw it first probably observed it for 7 or 8 seconds. We've watched lots of meteor showers & have never seen anything like this. We heard no sound & we didn't observe a persistant trail, just a "tail" while it was illuminated.

Jean Brown-Central SC: We live in central South Carolina, the weather was clear and cooling. On April 29th at about 10:05pm my husband and I were in the backyard, looking at all the stars in a clear sky.  We were facing south, when from the north, low in the sky came this object that grew brighter due to the flame behind it and continued in a low fashion out of sight.  It was orange and looked like it almost had a tail like a comet.  It was gone quickly and no sound was with it.  Lasted just 4-5 seconds.  Space garbage?  J&WB

Anonymous In Valdosta, GA: My name is Jami and I also live in Valdosta, Ga. I was standing in my driveway around 10pm and saw what looked like a firework going off abvove my house. It was bright blue in color and did resemble a strobe light. My husband had just gotten home and I asked him if he saw anything and he said no. But about two minutes later is when we both heard a big boom. My first thought was an airplane crashing.

Amelia T. Date: 4/29/11 Time: around 10:00 pm Location: Valdosta, GA
My roomate and I were facing Due East and the object fell from left to right, high in the sky. It was VERY much brighter than a full moon. We saw what seemed like lightening or a VERY bright flash in the sky, then we saw the object, cylindrical with a flaming tail split into two. It sputtered out and then fell behind the trees. Almost like a flare. It seemed very close to us and then about two minutes later we heard a HUGE boom.
Someone else I know said that it shook his whole house.  thank you Amelia, GREAT report!

Sandy M. Cottondale, FL: Saw falling star as I facing due east toward Marianna, FL  It was falling from NE of me to due East. It was brilliant white with greenish yellow flames coming from the back.  It was still burning as it dissapeared behind the trees.
Awesome!  Would like to find out more about what it was and where it ended up.

Ali Y. In Georgia:
I witnessed the fireball in the sky around 10pm tonight, I live in Camden County, GA in the area called Tarboro, out in the country where they sky is bright with stars :).  I was facing west and the fireball seemed blueish/white at the front and flaming from the tail.  It moved across the western sky right to left.  It was very bright and the sky sort of flickered before the meteor showed up, sort of like a dim flash across the whole sky then I saw it, it moved in the sky for probably 15 seconds of so, pretty long compared to any I've ever seen.  Never seen one that big EVER! It was awesome and I hope someone got a picture of it!

Tim M. In Florida:
April 29 2011 Just after 10:00pm Gainesville, FL I was facing north. The fireball was fall from west to east. I have seen many meteor showers over the years and this was the most impresive one I have ever seen.

Ken I. In Alabama:
I live in Foley, AL at 9:15 pm central time I saw a huge green fireball it was moving very fast no sound or trail. I spotted it at the top of the tree line from there it went straight down.


Sarah D. In Florida:
Just after 10pm I saw the large fireball falling from the sky as well! I'm in tampa, fl. I was on Nebraska ave at the intersection of Fowler ave....zip is 33612. I was facing north, saw the fireball slightly to the left putting it in the NWN direction. It didn't appear green to me, just orange. It flickered but I didn't see anything fly off of it. It was fairly bright...bright enough that I thought it was in tampa somewhere (glad I didn't try to go find it).
Was it found? I'm so intrigued!


Laura H. In Florida: 4/29/2011 about 10pm
my husband and I were driving north on I-275 from St. Petersburg to Tampa.  My husband and I had just crossed the Dale Mabry exit and I noticed out the windshield to my left (north west) what looked like an orange fireball falling from the sky.  I made comment to my husband as to what it was. It disappeared behind the trees before he saw it.  It looked like it might have landed in Tampa but I did not see or hear any explosions.  Glad to see that I am not loosing my mind.


Paul R.-Kingsland, GA...
Shortly after 10pm EDT my family noted a VERY bright fireball in the Western sky over Kingsland, GA.   I could clearly see the intense burning meteor shedding off smaller glowing bits as it streaked through the sky.  thank you Paul!

Internet Inquiries...

United States arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Possible North Florida Green Meteor Fireball 23APR2011" by searching for meteor in north florida .
21:00:17 -- 1 minute ago

Stone Mountain, Georgia arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Florida-Gulf Of Mexico Meteor Fireball 13APR2011..." by searching for meteorite in newnan.
20:58:25 -- 3 minutes ago

Jacksonville, Florida arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: FL Meteor Fireball 17APR2011..." by searching for what was falling from the sky in Jacksonville florida.
20:56:22 -- 5 minutes ago

Lutz, Florida arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Central FL Gulf Coast Green Meteor Fireball 27APR2011..." by searching for green meteor florida april 29.
20:55:34 -- 6 minutes ago

Macon, Georgia arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Meteor News...Bright GA Meteor Fireball With Smoke Trail 01APR2011...".
20:45:12 -- 17 minutes ago

Tallahassee, Florida arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Possible North Florida Green Meteor Fireball 23APR2011" by searching for meteor in north florida.
20:40:42 -- 22 minutes ago

Lake Butler, Florida arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Apr 29, 2011" by searching for april 29th 2011 meteor shower.
20:39:38 -- 23 minutes ago

***Significant Fireball/Bolide Over Florida-Georgia +- 10:00 P.M. EDT 29APR2011...If you witnessed this event please e-mail your description to wxtx01@gmail.com Include date, time, location, direction you were facing/traveling, direction of object (right to left etc. is OK), color, brightness compared to a full moon, any fragmentation or bright flashes/explosions. Thank you!!

12:11:00 AM

Possible WA State Meteor Fireball 28APR2011...

Olympia, Washington arrived from google.com on "elp allsky:" by searching for fireball in washington.
20:51:57 -- 3 hours 12 mins ago

***We need additional accounts of a possible Washington State meteor/fireball on 28APR2011. If you saw this event, please post your report at wxtx01@gmail.com  Thank you!***

12:04:00 AM

Possible Meteor Fireball SO CAL 28APR2011...

Internet Inquiries Suggest A Possible Meteor/Fireball Southern California

Cardiff By The Sea, California arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Possible Meteor Fireball SO CAL 28APR2011..." by searching for loud boom april 28 2011 san diego county.
00:09:11 -- 21 minutes ago
Rancho Santa Fe, California arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Breaking Meteor News...Exploding Meteor Fireball Southern California 9:56pm PDT 21APR2011..." by searching for meteor carlsbad,ca.
22:38:28 -- 1 hour 14 mins ago

La Jolla, California arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Apr 24, 2011" by searching for meteor shower san diego 2011.
20:56:39 -- 2 hours 56 mins ago

Carlsbad, California arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Loud Booms Heard In Southern California 17APR2011 Possible Fireball?" by searching for loud noise southern california.
19:22:13 -- 4 hours 31 mins ago

***Numerous inquiries indicate a Southern California fireball event. If you witnessed this fireball, please e-mail wxtx01@gmail.com with details of your observation. Thank you!***