See a spectacular fireball blaze across the Missouri sky
The fireball was likely a visiting meteor from the Taurid meteor shower.
The St. Louis EarthCam caught sight of the fireball on Nov. 11.
The Taurid meteor shower is visiting Earth once again and it appears to have made a special delivery to Missouri on Monday night. Cameras around St. Louis caught sight of a blazing fireball streaking across the sky.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) said it received over 120 reports of the fireball, which was also seen from Indiana, Illinois, Kansas and other nearby states. AMS compiled a video of some of the best looks at the fireball, including a view of it lighting up the sky near the landmark St Louis Gateway Arch.
Missouri weather-watcher Tom Stolze shared a particularly vivid view of the fireball on Twitter.
Meteor flying overhead from east to west in O'Fallon, MO this evening just west of St. Louis. #stlwx #mowx pic.twitter.com/0IX2fppoEd
— Tom Stolze (@ofallonweather) November 12, 2019
Some eyewitnesses to the likely meteor also reported hearing a boom. "Loud rumbling and shook our entire house. I thought it was an earthquake," wrote Dorothy S. from Wentzville, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
The Taurids, which are triggered by the debris from a comet, will stay active through early December, but we're almost out of peak viewing time. If you happen to spot another lovely fireball like the one seen in Missouri, the AMS would love to hear about it.
