Fireball Reported Throughout Midwest
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 15, 2010 2:00PM
We're just going to go ahead and say that we're pretty sure the apocalypse is nigh. As if the earthquake wasn't enough, it looks like the sky is falling as there were reports of a giant fireball in the night sky over the Midwest last night. The incident occurred around 10 pm last night as a bright flash was seen reported in Wisconsin, parts of western Illinois, eastern Iowa, and even near St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. There were no reports in the Chicago area. The flash was captured on both film and radar as it headed from west to east. National Weather Service officials believe it to have been a meteorite entering the atmosphere as part of a meteor shower. The National Weather Service in Milwaukee issued a report saying:
While no official determination has been made of what caused the fireball...space debris...meteor etc...there is a meteor shower currently occurring called the Gamma Virginids. It began April 4th and is expected to last through April 21st...with the peak activity April 14th and 15th. A large meteorite could have caused the brilliant fireball that has been reported.
The Quad Cities National Weather Service also issued a report:
Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight. The fireball was seen across Northern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin. Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes. As of late Wednesday evening, it is unknown whether any portion of this meteorite hit the ground.
Just for fun, below is video from KWWL.