Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
The meteor seen over Mitchell County on Aug. 30 made it to a point around 20 miles above Altapass before breaking up, NASA now says.
Initial reports in August indicated that the fireball may have broken up or impacted somewhere near Spruce Pine.
Multiple Mitchell and Yancey county residents either heard the sonic boom of the fireball or saw the flash as it streaked overhead at 1:15 in the morning.
Cane Creek resident Blair Hyder said that his dogs heard the meteor before he did and began barking and acting upset. When Hyder got up to see what was bothering them, he didn’t see the fireball itself but was struck by how bright it made his darkened yard.
“It lit my front yard up like it was daylight,” Hyder said. “I could hear the rumbling and then the whole front yard lit up.”
Hyder works as a tax assessor for Mitchell County.
“The light was all I saw — I had the blinds closed but it was noticeable,” he said. “If my dogs hadn’t woke me up wouldn’t have heard it. They could hear it before I heard it.”
Other Mitchell residents have shared home security camera footage that shows where their properties also lit up very briefly as the meteor streaked overhead.
“Fireball” is a term used by astronomers to describe exceptionally bright meteors that are visible over a wide area, as distinguished from the smaller meteors usually called shooting stars.
The American Meteor Society collects eyewitness accounts, photos and videos of fireballs on its website at fireball.amsmeteors.org. Videos and pictures of the Altapass fireball are available at fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2024/4759.
More information about the event can be found on NASA’s Facebook page.