Loud fireball spotted over three Southern states streaking at 55,000 miles per hour, NASA confirms: "More people heard it than saw it"

A loud boom prefaced a streaking fireball spotted in three Southern states, scientists confirmed Thursday. More than 30 people in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi reported seeing the exceptionally bright meteor in the sky around 8 a.m. Wednesday after hearing loud booms in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and surrounding areas, NASA reported. 

It was first spotted 54 miles above the Mississippi River, near Alcorn, Mississippi, officials said.

"This is one of the nicer events I have seen in the GLM (Geostationary Lightning Mappers) data," said Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.