The rare daylight event occurred on June 26, when witnesses from Georgia to the Carolinas reported a brilliant white flash followed by a thunderous boom. The National Weather Service in Peachtree City said the shockwave was strong enough to rattle windows. There were also more than 140 sighting reports submitted to the American Meteor Society.
According to UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere at tremendous speed, breaking apart before a 23-gram fragment tore through the roof of a Henry County home in McDonough, Georgia—hence the name. The impact damaged ductwork, scattered debris, and left the homeowner still finding traces of space dust weeks later.
Researchers have classified the specimen as an ordinary chondrite, which is a type of stony meteorite formed 4.56 billion years ago in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. These primitive rocks preserve some of the oldest material in the solar system.
Dr. Alex Harris, a faculty member in UGA’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, is leading the analysis of the McDonough Meteorite. He plans to publish a detailed paper next year outlining its composition, speed, and flight dynamics.
These studies are key to understanding the potential threat of much larger and more hazardous asteroids. Harris noted that a catastrophic impact is always a possibility, and that improving detection and mitigation strategies could help prevent a future disaster.
Harris’s preliminary findings suggest the meteorite’s journey toward Earth began about 470 million years ago, likely triggered by a massive asteroid collision. Daylight fireballs like this are rare, requiring both the brightness and size to outshine the Sun, making the McDonough fall one of Georgia’s most unusual meteorites.
NASA notes that most meteors disintegrate before reaching the ground. In this case, the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which is a satellite sensor typically used to detect lightning, captured the meteor’s flash, helping pinpoint its location over the eastern Atlanta metro area.
UGA, in collaboration with Arizona State University, is preparing to submit the meteorite’s classification to the Meteoritical Society for official recognition. The Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville plans to display fragments later this year.
The McDonough Meteorite marks Georgia’s 27th recorded meteorite recovery and only the sixth instance in state history where a fall was directly observed.