Space Weather
Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:42 CDT
Last night, March 29th around 9:45 pm EDT, people along the Atlantic coast of the USA from Maryland to North Carolina witnessed bright lights in the sky and heard thunderous booms. It was probably a meteoritic bolide--a random asteroid hitting Earth's atmosphere and exploding in flight.
Another possibility is being discussed as well: A spent Russian rocket body reentered the atmosphere on March 29th. According to data published by US Strategic Command, the rocket reentry happened near Taiwan (24° N, 125° E) more than two hours after the Atlantic Coast event.
Stay tuned for updates and more eyewitness reports.