A fireball, or a bright meteorite, was seen across the southeastern United States on Thursday and later exploded over Georgia, creating booms heard by residents in the area, according to NASA.The American Meteor Society said it received more than 160 reports of a fireball sighting from observers in Georgia and South Carolina at 12:25 p.

Officials across metro Atlanta and in parts of the Southeast U.S. reported sightings of a "fireball" streaking across the sky.

A glowing object lit up the sky, prompting dozens of calls to the authorities, as scientists scrambled to figure out what it was.