A fireball streaking across the eastern U.S. has vanished – but folks in Pennsylvania say it left its mark in a cornfield.
The people of Salladasburg, Pa., suspect the meteor, which raced across the sky Monday night, destroyed a patch of corn.
“The corn was not mowed over. It was, like, wilted, it was lying down. They had pinholes in them. You could see where they were burned,” said A.J. Edkin, a safety officer with the Larrys Creek Fire Department.
State environmental authorities were combing the area with radiation detectors, while a man trying to shoot video from a helicopter was ordered to “move away from the contaminated area.”
Eyewitnesses from Virginia to New York reported seeing a streaking light and hearing supersonic booms from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Monday.
“There were two big booms and then just a roll of little ones, and then the ground shook like we were having an earthquake,” said Edkin.