Reports of some sort of meteor event in North and South Carolina as well as Georgia are lighting up the internet as large parts of central and eastern United States witnessed red and green lights across the sky from what was an apparent CME hit.
According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, a moderate Geomagnetic Storm Monday evening caused the Northern Lights to visible throughout much of the country.
SpaceWeather.com relayed a report from the Goddard Space Weather Lab saying, "the impact [of the CME] caused a strong compression of Earth's magnetic field, allowing solar wind to penetrate all the way down to geosynchronous orbit for a brief period."At the same time widespread reports have came in that indicate a large fireball/meteor was seen in both South and North Carolina as well as Georgia.
Source: Lunarmeteoritehunters
Columbia, South Carolina FIREBALL IN SKY 19:15 Eastern 24OCT2011From Facebook:
Hey I am located in Northeast columbia/ Pontiac area in what is call The Summit, around 19:15 tonight what looked to be a fireball entered the sky to the southwest and burned out to the northeast and lasted about 4 to 5 seconds, It was fiery red in color and got the brightest 2 seconds in, I wish I could have got a picture or video but i have never seen anything like this and was awestruck let me know if you need any more info and keep me updated. -Adam Gilliland
Thank you Adam!
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Tonight, around 7:20 PM, as we were leaving the Dairy Queen in Watkinsville, Georgia, we saw a bright object falling slowly from the northeast to the east. It lasted about 3 to 4 seconds. It was white for the most part, with a faint orange/red around the edges. It then started to go green as it fell behind the trees. It was gone by the time we cleared the trees on Highway 53. We were in an SUV so if it made any sound, I didn't hear it. It was as bright as maybe negative 2 magnitude or so. This is the second one I have spotted this year. I also saw the one back on May 29th of this year. -Ira Thank you Ira!
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I swear on my life i was sitting on my front porch and i saw a bright light and i got up and looked at the sky and there was something shooting across the sky and pieces of it where flying off and were on fire it went down and looked like it landed at most 15 miles from my house out in the woods.From Portland Universe Blogs:
Whats going on in the sky ????? Earlier what appeared to be a meteor went speeding through the sky like a fire ball from West to East now the Northern sky appears Blood Red .... there doesn't appear to be any clouds in the sky but I cant seem to find the Moon
Its a big part of the Northern sky ... I live in Ellenboro NC and the sky looks Blood Red and the Moon is nowhere to be found and there doesn't appear to be a cloud in the sky all the stars and constellations are shining brightly
Breaking Story - MBIQ (Meteor Bot Internet Query) Bot Indicates Large South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia Fireball Meteor Event 24OCT2011Stay tuned this story will be updated shortly.
We need YOUR witness reports to post details; thank you:
Columbia, South Carolina FIREBALL IN SKY 19:15 Eastern 24OCT2011
Hey I am located in Northeast columbia/ Pontiac area in what is call The Summit, around 19:15 tonight what looked to be a fireball
Mainstream news reports:
Fox19Northern Lights Reach into the South
Just what are those red lights in the sky?
On a dark clear night, When our viewers see lights in the sky it is one of two phenomena. First and most often, it could be very high, thin clouds reflecting sunlight. Even though the sun set an hour or more earlier high in the atmosphere the sun is still above the horizon. The light in this case is usually pale white but it can be pale red if there is dust in the atmosphere to the west.
Occasionally we see the northern lights here in Cincinnati. Scientists call this phenomenon the aurora borealis and when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's magnetic field a variety of colors and shapes can result.
Red usually signifies oxygen atoms in the very highest part of the atmosphere, above 120 miles up, interacting with the charged particles of the solar wind. Green (sometimes yellowish-green) too is oxygen and blue is nitrogen but at a lower elevation between 60 and 120 miles up. The blue nitrogen glow is hard to see against the black sky so it is rarely reported. A bit lower still, below 60 miles up, nitrogen glows deep red/crimson color.
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nbc4i.com
Central Ohio Has Rare Sighting of Northern Lights
CENTRAL OHIO - If you saw it, you're lucky. It doesn't happen this far south very often. Those red and pink streaks in the sky were, indeed, the Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis). According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, we had a moderate Geomagnetic Storm Monday evening.
The sun spit out a sizable Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) around 2pm EDT Monday. It only takes the light from the sun about eight minutes to get to the earth but it takes several hours for us to feel the effects of a CME.
SpaceWeather.com relayed a report from the Goddard Space Weather Lab saying, "the impact [of the CME] caused a strong compression of Earth's magnetic field, allowing solar wind to penetrate all the way down to geosynchronous orbit for a brief period."
Northern Lights spotted Monday night
Northern Lights spotted in West Michigan, beyondRare Northern Lights Sightings Across Midwest
WEST MICHIGAN - A trip into the more rural parts of West Michigan might be in order tonight if you're longing to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.
A giant burst of solar wind slammed into Earth's magnetic field earlier today, along with it an increased possibility of catching a glimpse of the lights, according to SpaceWeather.com.
The website reported the lights also have been spotted in states including Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.
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