ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News is receiving reports of a “fireball” falling from the sky Thursday afternoon.
Several viewers have called and messaged, saying they saw something in the sky before hearing a loud boom and feeling shaking.
[RELATED: What did you see falling through the sky? A meteor or meteorite?]
NASA confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that it was a meteor first seen 48 miles above Oxford, Ga. in Newton County and was moving 30,000 miles per hour.
They say it was produced by an asteroidal fragment that had a three-foot diameter and weighed more than a ton.
It disintegrated about 27 miles above West Forest, Ga., which released the same amount of energy as 20 tons of TNT, NASA said.
That’s likely what resulted in the loud boom that hundreds of people in the area reported hearing.
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Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandrett told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco that he and his team felt it hit, and that it stopped them in their tracks.
Emergency officials say they are investigating reports that a piece of a meteorite flew through a roof and into a Henry County home.
Henry County Emergency Management Director Ryan Morrison told Francisco that he went to the home to make sure everyone was ok. He says the man reported that it sounded like a gunshot and then he noticed pieces of rock on the ground.
We’ve received reports from across metro Atlanta, including DeKalb County, downtown Atlanta and down to Henry and Newton counties.
Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan says it may be a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere.
The National Weather Service in Charleston, S.C. reported a streak in Gasbury, Va. just before noon.
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