Bright Fireball over Lancaster County, PA

Bright Fireball over Lancaster County, PA

Over 125 fireball reports from Pennsylvania, Maryland…

The AMS has received over 125 reports so far about of a fireball event seen above Maryland and Pennsylvania on September 17^th, 2017 around 00:59am EDT (04:59 Universal Time). The fireball was seen primarily from Maryland and Pennsylvania but was also seen from New York, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio and Massachusetts.

If you witnessed this event and/or if you have a video or a photo of this event, please

Submit an Official Fireball Report

If you want to learn more about Fireballs: read our Fireball FAQ.

Witness Location and first estimated ground trajectory – AMS Event #3210-2017

Eight witnesses near the Mason Dixon Line reported delayed boom sounds a few moments after the fall.

Delayed boom reports – AMS Event #3210-2017

AMS Operations Manager Mike Hankey has been testing a new Raspberry PI based fireball camera system in his front yard for several months and this is certainly the best fireball video he has captured to date. The camera system is comprised of 6 cameras each pointing in a different direction. The light from the fireball was actually recorded on 5 of the 6 cameras. 2 cameras with slightly overlapping fields of view directly caught the meteor.

AMS Event #3210-2017 captured on Raspberry Pi – Credit: Mike Hankey

Aristidis Koutsouradis, another Rapsberry PI user from Westminster Maryland also caught a still picture of the fireball using his Raspberry PI Computer and wide angle lens.

AMS Event #3210-2017 captured on Raspberry Pi – Credit: Aristidis Koutsouradis

Based on the sonic boom reports, the magnitude of the meteor and the obvious visible fragmentation in the videos there is a good chance meteorites from this fall could have landed in Lancaster County PA.

If you witnessed this event or captured it on video please fill out an official fireball report.