HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – A meteor was reported by nearly 400 people across Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Arkansas area overnight on Sunday. A map from the American Meteor Society website shows that two people in Hopkinsville and Oak Grove officially reported seeing the green fireball in the sky locally around 11:30 p.m. on June 15.
A social media statement from NASA Space Alerts says the meteor was first spotted above Tupelo, Mississippi, moving northwest at 56,000 mph, as captured on NASA cameras. The meteor traveled 300 miles before disintegrating above the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri.
More information from NASA says that at its peak, the fireball was 16 times brighter than the planet Venus and was likely caused by a one-pound piece of an asteroid, about three inches in diameter. The object moved too fast and was too small to produce meteorites.
Correction: The time that the meteor was seen in Christian County has been updated.
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