Forty stargazers in the Carolinas and four other states reported seeing a fireball in the early morning sky Thursday, according to the American Meteorological Society.
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The mysterious orb streaked “from up right to down left,” Mark S. of Belmont reported on the site with a photo and video of the object above the Belmont/Belmont Abbey College exit of Interstate 85. The site typically includes only the first name and first letter of a person’s last name.
Michael D. of Statesville and Greg. H. of the town of Catawba reported the same movement, while Devin W. of Rutherfordton saw the object shooting down right to up left.
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People in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee also said they saw the object at 5:31 a.m. and sent 17 photos and four videos to the society.
No mystery in the end, society officials said. It was a rocket launch.
This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 11:31 AM with the headline “Fireball seen hurtling over North Carolina was not a meteor, experts say.”
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