I live along the coast on the Eastern Shore of MD. I too saw this amazing fireball. From my vantage point the bright orange ball of fire just suddenly appeared at approximately 9:40 PM. It was definitely larger than a refrigerator, as reported. It fell downward and slightly east then seemed to burn out. It only lasted about 5 seconds; however, this was the most spectacular site I have ever seen!

I live in Ellicott City, MD. Just between 9:30 and 10:00 pm (after the wife went to bed) I heard a series of low booms. I thought it was another round of storms coming into the area so I turned to TV to the local weather channel. The remnants of the afternoon storm were passing well to the north of the Baltimore region so it struck me as odd that I would be hearing thunder. Perhaps I was hearing this event? It was loud enough that our cat was startled out of a sound sleep.

FR: Quite likely. It's killin' me I missed this thing.

Very interesting. Didn't notice a thing happening around that time here in Harford County.

i too saw or heard nothing where i live in Middle River, Maryland. Although, there was a bit of cloud cover and we can often hear booms from the tanks firing at Aberdeen. It is very possible, that i may have mistaken this "meteoric sonic boom" as nothing more than just another tank firing off.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/BOOM30_20090329-234409/244022/ Richmond Times says it was the Russians, now

FR: The linked article cites an unnamed source at the National Weather Service, cited by the Manassas News & Messenger, claiming it was a Russian rocket body re-entering the atmosphere. Not real strong sourcing there. Geoff Chester, at the US Naval Observatory, thinks it was the booster from yesterday's Soyuz launch to the International Space Station but Spaceweather.com http://spaceweather.com/ cites the US Strategic Command saying the supposed rocket body re-entry actually occurred near Taiwan, two hours after the Virginia event. I'm inclined to discount the space junk theory. From the descriptions, it was moving too fast to be space junk. Remember video of the shuttle Columbia breaking up on re-entry ? Or the Russian space station Mir? It's slow. Eyewitnesses say this thing was gone in seconds. I'm making some calls...

From Ocean Pines on the Eastern Shore it was in the south, southwest sky and came almost straight down, slightly angled to the east. Bright white fireball with a long tail.

I saw it coming into Manchester, MD going south at right about that time. At first I thought it was a glare on my window, but my wife who was with me saw the same thing. It burned a bluish green, and then disappeared behind the horizon. Quite a sight, actually!

I was driving down Reisterstown Rd in Baltimore and saw a big green fireball coming down as I looked to my right while I was stopped at a traffic light. I thought I was just seeing things but I now know Im not the only one that saw it. I dont know if I could hear a sound from it because I had my radio up loud! Thanks for letting me know Im not crazy!

FR: Thanks for the report. I'd love to hear from eyewitnesses some estimates of the length of time, in seconds, that this object was visible. It makes a big difference in determining whether it was space debris or a natural meteor. Thanks.

Between 9:30-10pm, saw a flash of light out of the right corner of my eye - window that faces east, so the flash appeared to the southeast. Then I heard several booms, followed by rumbles. Thought it could have been thunder but also thought it was weird that it was a singular event. I am in Clarksville, Howard County

I'm in northeastern Howard County, near Baltimore County. About that time, I was half dozing in a lounge chair, when a loud "boom" made me get up and check the exterior of the house. It sounded as though a tree had blown over onto my roof!

I was driving with the radio on and did not hear anything, but I did see a "falling star" type object in the sky in the Hershey, Pa. area.

FR: Eyewitnesses: When you leave a comment on this event , please include the length of time the object was visible. In seconds. Just try to recall watching it, and repeat to yourself, "Mississippi 1, Mississippi 2, Mississippi 3..." And let us know how many seconds it was visible. It helps distinguish natural meteors, which are very fast, from space debris, which isn't. Thanks.

Frank, here`s alittle more detail of what i saw last night.Off my back deck just east of westminster it lasted about 4 or 5 seconds from where i saw it . I could see it completely from start to finish as described before. However I didn`t hear a sonic boom, I did notice pieces of it scattering and burning almost like a firework. It did kind of remind me of the footage of the space shuttle accident. it wasn`t moving or shooting like a typical meteor in terms of speed. Thats all I can add. Hope everyone enjoyed the show.

FR: Thanks. Appreciate the time estimate. That says meteor, not space debris. As for the sonic boom, that comes much later than the light, and may not have been strong enough to reach Westminster. Sound travels at roughly 600 mph. Let's say the object entered the atmosphere somewhere near Norfolk. That's 188 miles from Westminster, about an 18-minute trip for the sonic boom. Maybe you had already gone inside.

I saw it through my living room window in Crownsville MD. It was light green and had a long tail. It only lasted for 2-3 seconds at most. I thought it was fireworks because it seemed so close!

FR: I live in South Laurel. Unfortunately, my apartment faces to the east-northeast, so I wasn't able to see anything. But the series of sonic reverberations from this thing lasted more than just seconds. I had time to check my WeatherBug radar twice on suspicion that another T-storm was moving in (not) before the booms ceased. If I had to estimate, I would say the series of booms lasted at least 30-40 seconds, and possibly a little more.

I am in Eldersburg. I had the windows open and heard what I thought was thunder around 9:45ish. My dog ran to the window and was whining. It was very strange cause he normally doesnt react to thunderstorms. I didnt think anything of it until I saw the news coverage. It didn't last very long but seemed like a large clap of thunder but from far away. I possibly was hearing this sonic boom?...

FR: Probably. Interesting how many pets reacted to this thing.

I did not see anything. I heard the noise between 9:30p-10:00p. It lasted more than 20 seconds. The extremely loud rumblings sounded like a succession of explosives going off in a distance between Maryland and DC.

I was driving southbound on MD Route 4 in Solomons Island, Maryland between 9:40 and 9:43 pm when I saw a bright flash to my left (southeast). I saw a huge white/orange ball with a very long "tail" that appeared to be traveling almost straight down. The entire event lasted between 4 and 7 seconds. The light was unbelievably bright, and seemed so close, that I would have sworn that it was going to land in Solomons Island or in the water just south of Solomons, although I am sure it must not have been that close. Immediately after I lost sight of the ball due to buildings obstructing my view, I did see what appeared to be an explosion or very bright flash once the ball reached it's ultimate resting place. I was in my car and did not hear any boom. Does anyone know where this thing ultimately landed? I must admit it was an amazing site!!

I seen that last night to and was amaze to see a something so bright flying across the sky. It was amazing and made a wish. (LOL). But, I did not hear a sonic boom though!

Strange, me and several of my coworkers who live in Northern Harford County experienced a loud boom and our houses shaking, but it wasn't until 1:16am. Could it be the same event?

FR: Not at that hour. Also, please note that the fireball in this post occurred March 29, 2009.

I live in Harford County and I heard the large boom on Sunday night around 9:40. I live by the proving grounds and I am used to the shelling but I immediately knew that this was something different. I read that there was another loud boom around 1:15am Monday morning, but I didn't hear that one

At 1:10am on August 11th, 2009 there was a huge bright flash followed 4-5 seconds later by a long, rumbling boom in Chesapeake, Virginia. It is odd that it t happened again. Any thoughts?

FR: Sounds like a nearby thunderstorm to me.