'Fireball' Over Georgia Was Actually Space Junk

Image: Dots represent space junk orbiting the planet. nasa.gov

By GREG HAMBRICK (Patch Staff)

A mysterious light show over Gwinnett County and other parts of Georgia early Monday morning wasn’t a fireball. Instead, experts say it was space junk.

There were 132 sightings of the event at 1:30 a.m. over Georgia, South Carolina and other states in the region, according to AMS Meteors, which tirelessly tracks reports of these things.

“It was heading north and was the largest meteor ball I have ever witnessed,” a spotter from Johns Creek, Ga., said. “When I first saw it it appeared to be a rocket ... But, I quickly realized it was traveling on a slight downward angle.

David Dundee, an astronomer for the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, told the AJC that the speed was far too slow for a meteor or fireball.

There are more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or space junk, orbiting the Earth, according to NASA. So, it’s not surprising that Dundee told WSBTV that it’s not unusual to get these mistaken fireball reports.

“On the average I see two or three reports every month of a bright, really bright fireball,” Dundee said.