Very bright fireball illuminates Philadelphia skies, helicopters reported over possible impact site, U.S.


A very bright green fireball illuminated the sky over Pennsylvania, U.S., at 08:44 UTC (03:44 LT) on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The event was widely observed across multiple states and parts of Canada, with some witnesses reporting a ground-level flash shortly after it disappeared. Others described flashing lights moving toward the area, followed by helicopters hovering over what appeared to be a possible impact site near a lake.

Video credit: Mid Atlantic Severe Weather Alert Storm/Aurora Cam

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received nine reports of the event from users in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Ontario, Canada.

“This was amazing, a once-in-a-lifetime event—very spectacular. I took the dog outside and saw this as I looked toward Lake Ontario from my back deck. It looked huge,” Barb from Ontario, Canada reported to AMS, adding the object had a light yellow color and a red tail.

“Approximately 5 – 10 seconds after it disappeared, I saw a ground-level flash in the distance where it was heading (southwest). It looked like lightning, but it had to be an impact,” said an observer from Broomall, Pennsylvania.

A user from Oshawa, Ontario, said he heard a slight popping sound like breaking through the atmosphere for like a few seconds.

“Shortly after I saw the meteor there were a lot of flashing lights heading towards the lake then I saw a helicopter hovering around that area where it looked like it crashed in the lake,” he added.

Ron from Evesham, New Jersey reported it looked like a blue/green lightning, with several pieces of green trails.

The bright green color of the fireball suggests that nickel was the dominant element generating the green hue as it burned in the atmosphere.

philadelphia fireball february 1 2025 trajectory
Philadelphia fireball trajectory and heatmap – February 1, 2025. Credit: AMS

References:

1 Fireball event 686-2025 – AMS – February 1, 2025




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