Mystery fireball streaks across North Carolina nighttime sky, video shows
People in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland reported a mysterious fireball in the night sky on Tuesday, Dec. 30, according to the American Meteor Society.
A resident of Arlington, Virginia, posted video of the mystery orb on the society’s website.
Two North Carolinians reported seeing it, too, at 6:59 p.m.
“I have seen fireballs before,” including three over a couple of days around the same time of the year in 2025, “at this time of day ... early evening ... as well,” a Durham resident wrote on the society’s website.
“But this was the first time someone I was with caught sight of it, too,” the resident identified only as Kim K. said.
No sound could be heard, residents say
Tuesday’s fireball was visible for about 3.5 seconds, streaking “from down left to up right,” Kim K. said.
Jonathan R. of Greenville saw the fireball darting “from up right to down left,” also for 3.5 seconds.
The fireball was silent, both North Carolinians said. The 10 other people who reported the fireball also said they heard no sound from the celestial wonder.
Help report fireballs
The society encourages people to report anything they see that’s “bright and fast” in the sky and may look like a shooting star. “Report it: it may be a fireball,” society officials say.
Filing a report is important because it alerts the society “to potentially scientifically significant events that occur, and contributes to the general database of knowledge about meteors.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Mystery fireball streaks across North Carolina nighttime sky, video shows."