Bright green ‘fireball’ spotted over north Alabama

Reports from across the Southeast came in Sunday night as a bright “fireball” made a quick appearance in the sky.

While most of the sightings came from Tennessee and Kentucky, some people in north Alabama were able to see it as well.

According to the American Meteor Society, nearly 400 reports came in for the event. There may be no quick way to confirm what exactly caused the fireball but experts have said it was likely a natural meteor.

Scientists are continuing to analyze eyewitness reports + camera footage to determine the meteor’s path and whether any fragments may have survived.

What causes a meteor to glow green?

A fireball is an unusually bright meteor entering Earth’s atmosphere at high speed. Most burn up before reaching the ground, though larger objects can occasionally survive and leave meteorite fragments behind.

Meteors that cause these fireballs are often reported with a unique color which tells scientists a lot about the makeup of any given meteor.

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According to the American Meteor Society, colors can range from:

• Red
• Blue
• Green
• Violet (most rare)

“The dominant composition of a meteoroid can play an important part in the observed colors of a fireball, with certain elements displaying signature colors when vaporized. For example, sodium produces a bright yellow color, nickel shows as green, and magnesium as blue-white. The velocity of the meteor also plays an important role, since a higher level of kinetic energy will intensify certain colors compared to others.”

American Meteor Society

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