meteor fireball US northeast
© AMS.org
More than 1100 reports and 10 videos from 14 states

The AMS received 1102 reports so far and some videos displaying a fireball event that occurred over Ohio and West Virginia on Thursday December 1st 2022, 7:34 PM Eastern Standard Time (Dec 2nd, 2022 0:34 Universal Time).

The initial computer generated trajectory of the AMS #2022-9579 event show the fireball entering the atmosphere few miles north of Cumberland, OH and terminating few miles southeast of Pittsburgh, PA. More accurate results are now available through an analysis conducted by NASA that shows that the meteor was first sighted 52 miles (84 km) above the Ohio town of Morganville. Moving downward at a shallow angle and almost due east at 34,500 miles per hour (55,500 km/h), the fireball traveled 113 miles (182 km) through the atmosphere before disintegrating 19 miles (31 km) above the town of Ringgold in West Virginia, just south of Morgantown. The duration of this event is relatively long as the fireball was visible for almost 10 seconds. The fireball was produced by a meteoroid approximately 5 inches (12 cm) in diameter with a weight around 3 pounds (1.3kg). The event has been captured by 3 NASA meteor cameras in the area and has been reported by witnesses mainly from Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio. The AMS also received reports from Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and from Canada (Ontario).

It is doubtful that this fireball produced meteorites on the ground - the shallow entry angle, relatively high speed at last sighting and lack of doppler radar signatures showing falling meteoritic particles indicate that the fragment's disintegration produced no substantial pieces.

This was not a member of the Geminid meteor shower, which will reach its peak on the night of December 13/14.