A rare celestial event occurred over Alabama’s skies on Saturday evening, leaving multiple witnesses in awe. Two fireballs streaked across the night sky, with the first one visible at 5:30 p.m. Central time and the second at 10:11 p.m.
According to meteorologist James Spann, a piece of an asteroid weighing around a pound hit the atmosphere at 33,500 miles per hour, causing the initial fireball. The object was initially visible at an altitude of 49 miles over Heflin before disintegrating 30 miles above the Coosa River.
The second event received 120 reports from observers in Southern states, including Alabama and Georgia. Videos and photos captured the object’s slow-moving streak with a bright core, followed by smaller bright spots, suggesting it was breaking apart as it burned up.
Unnamed astronomers identified the object as “space junk” burning up re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. However, astronomer Jonathan McDowell confirmed that the satellite GaoJing 1-02, operated by SpaceView, was likely responsible for the event. Radar systems in Missouri detected debris shedding from the satellite before it hit an unknown location near Poplar Bluff.
Source: https://www.al.com/news/2024/12/fireballs-seen-over-alabama-were-they-meteors-or-a-chinese-satellite.html