A brilliantly luminous meteor—known as a bolide—raced across the daytime sky above the Southeastern United States on June 26, 2025, captivating observers and leaving physical evidence in its wake. First observed around 12:30 p.m. EDT, the fireball was visible across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and even parts of Alabama. What began as a dazzling streak in the sky culminated in a loud sonic boom that rattled windows and startled residents from Atlanta to beyond.
More than 200 eyewitness reports flooded the American Meteor Society, capturing the event as a bright fireball with a smoky trail visible during broad daylight—a rare occurrence. Dashcam and doorbell camera footage captured vivid footage of the meteor’s descent, illuminating suburban neighborhoods with an intense flash.
NASA, after analyzing satellite imagery and weather radar data, confirmed the meteor’s path. The object, roughly the size of a shopping cart, traveled at high velocity before breaking apart over West Forest, Georgia. The resulting energy release was estimated to be equivalent to approximately 20 tons of TNT. Despite its modest size compared to space rocks, this bolide was powerful enough to create a loud boom and leave debris over a wide area.
The most striking evidence emerged in Henry County, Georgia, southeast of Atlanta. Emergency management authorities responded to reports of a rock crashing through a home’s roof, continuing through the ceiling, crackling laminate floorboards, and stopping at the concrete below. No one was injured, but the incident left the family shaken and local officials intrigued. As Ryan Morrison, director of Henry County Emergency Management, remarked: “It pierced through the roof all the way through and cracked through the laminate flooring to the concrete.”
The National Weather Service in Peachtree City confirmed receipt of multiple reports and noted that its radar did not initially detect the meteor—likely because it fragmented at high altitude. However, satellite imagery later revealed a smoke trail stretching from Tennessee into northern Georgia. Meteor experts from NASA and atmospheric scientists explained that the intense brightness and sonic boom result from rapid deceleration and ram-pressure heating, not friction.
This fiery daylight display coincided with the Bootid meteor shower, which occurs roughly every 6.37 years when Earth passes through debris left by Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke. Although annual meteor activity is common—many burning up unnoticed over oceans or uninhabited areas—bolides that remain bright enough to be seen in daylight and cause a sonic boom are far less frequent. Experts estimate only 10–20 such powerful events occur worldwide each year.
Remarkably, fewer than 5% of meteoroids survive the fiery descent to strike Earth; most fragment or vaporize mid-air. In this case, several fragments appear to have landed, with possible meteorite remnants now scattered across parts of Henry and neighboring counties. Local authorities and NASA scientists are coordinating recovery efforts and urging residents who may find unusual, heavy, or magnetic rocks to report them to geological experts.
While historical meteor events have occasionally caused property damage or injuries—such as the 2013 Chelyabinsk, Russia, bolide which injured around 1,500 people—this Georgia event serves as a dramatic but relatively benign reminder of our planet’s continuing encounters with space debris. For now, it remains a rare and vivid spectacle: a midday flash ripping through suburban skies, a house struck in Georgia, and a fleeting taste of cosmic drama in everyday life.
