A rare fireball so bright it could be seen in broad daylight dazzled the sky Tuesday morning, causing a sonic boom in parts of the eastern United States.
The fireball was probably an unusually bright meteor, a piece of space rock that flared up in Earth’s atmosphere. According to NASA, the fireball will burn as brightly or brighter than Venus, the third brightest object in the sky.
The fireball was reported by sky watchers in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio near 9 a.m. ET, according to the American Meteor Society.
A loud bang was heard in the Cleveland area when a fast-moving meteor broke through a sound barrier, according to the National Weather Service.
It was close to where satellite equipment normally used to detect lightning observed the bright flash of light that the fireball emits as it enters Earth’s atmosphere.
In June 2025, the American Meteor Society told CNN that daytime sightings of fireballs must be brighter than nighttime, so similar sightings were widely seen in the skies of the southeastern United States.
There will be no active meteor showers until April 17, when the Lyrid meteor shower begins.
