A bright daylight fireball was recorded at 17:49 UTC (14:49 LT) on September 9, 2025, over the Atlantic Ocean, off the northeastern coast of Brazil. NASA’s CNEOS data show the object released 0.44 kilotons of impact energy at an altitude of 24 km (15 miles). IMO and AMS received 10 reports from Ceará, with witnesses describing orange to blue colors, persistent trails, fragmentation, and sounds ranging from faint hissing to thunder-like booms.
The event is confirmed by instrumental detection, satellite imagery, and eyewitness accounts, consistent with a low-altitude bolide airburst visible in broad daylight across Ceará.
A bright daylight fireball was recorded at 17:49 UTC (14:49 local time) on September 9, over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ceará State, northeastern Brazil. The event was registered at coordinates 2.3°S, 39.5°W.
NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) measured the object at a peak altitude of 24 km (15 miles). Its velocity was calculated at 20.7 km/s (74 520 km/h or 46 300 mph). The total radiated energy was 1.53 x 10¹¹ J, corresponding to an impact energy of 0.44 kilotons TNT equivalent.
For comparison, 0.44 kilotons is similar to the explosive yield of a small tactical nuclear device, but far below historic events such as Chelyabinsk (500 kt) on February 15, 2013.
A satellite image captured a transient atmospheric flash at the reported location, providing visual confirmation of the event.
By 18:00 UTC (15:00 LT) on September 10, the International Meteor Organization (IMO) and American Meteor Society (AMS) received 10 eyewitness reports from Ceará. Witnesses consistently described a fast-moving object descending across the sky from upper left to lower right.
Reports mentioned orange, yellow, blue, and white colors, with one account noting that the fireball was bright enough to diminish sunlight. Estimated magnitudes ranged from −5 to −28 (eyewitness estimates). Several observers reported persistent trails lasting up to 90 seconds.
Some witnesses reported faint hissing sounds, while others described loud booms comparable to thunder, in one case strong enough to cause ground vibrations.
One witness reported the object breaking into small glowing fragments with a luminous tail, while another described the fireball brightening, fading, and brightening again without full disintegration.
Since the start of 2025, CNEOS has recorded several fireballs with energies exceeding 1 kiloton. Among them were a 2.4 kt event over the Pacific Ocean on March 27, a 1.8 kt airburst over the Indian Ocean on March 13, a 1.6 kt fireball near southern Japan on August 19, and a 1.0 kt event above central Mexico on May 31.
References:
1 Fireball and Bolide Data – NASA/CNEOS – Accessed September 10, 2025
2 Event 5701-2025 Fireball Reports – IMO – Accessed September 10, 2025