Fireball - stock image
Stock image
Citizens in Madison County were startled on the night of May 29, 1859 at approximately 10 o'clock by what they thought was a tremendously loud clap of thunder, but they pondered how it could be so on the night when the heavens in the sky above were crystal clear and cloudless.

Later investigation, according to The Dixie Messenger newspaper of Madison, found it to be the report from the explosion of a meteor.

Those who did see the "luminous body" which burst asunder described it as a "splendid spectacle." The spectators said that the skies lit up for a few moments and that the light it cast upon the Earth rivaled that of the noonday sun.

According to The Family Friend newspaper of Monticello, people also heard the meteor explosion in neighboring Jefferson County.