The unexpected appearance of a ball of fire crossing the sky in the south of the United States around noon on Thursday caused nervousness among citizens of states such as Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia.

Since President Donald Trump ordered the bombing of Iran, a large sector of Americans fears that, at some point, the Islamic nation or any other enemy could launch a surprise attack in retaliation.

Therefore, upon observing a large, flaming mass streaking across the sky, several people came to believe that it might be a device of war.

However, those who observed the object more closely as it descended at high speed became convinced that it was a meteorite, and their fear grew greater when they thought of the damage caused at the time of collision.

According to Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environments Office at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, it was a meteorite first seen at an altitude of 48 miles above the city of Oxford, Georgia, moving southwest at 30,000 miles per hour.

It disintegrated 43 kilometers above West Forest, Georgia, releasing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT. The shock wave The resulting explosion spread to the ground, creating explosions that many in the area heard, the specialist said.

Through several phone calls to 911, a loud noise and windows shaking were reported.

A video circulating on social media, which was recorded in Lexington, South Carolina, shows the glow of the fireball as it plummets moments before it disintegrated.

The GOES East weather satellite recorded a bright flash over the Atlanta metropolitan area at around 12:24 pm

According to the American Meteor Society, when a meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere, it encounters resistance in the air and begins to break up as it approaches the ground.