A rare daytime fireball burst to life in the skies over the Midwest on the morning of March 17, creating a loud sonic boom that rattled houses as the meteor arced Earthward before fracturing over northern Ohio with the force of 250 tons of TNT. Now, the hunt is on to find the precious shards of the ancient wanderer, which carry significant scientific and monetary value.
The 7-ton (7,000-kilogram) meteoroid struck Earth's atmosphere at 8:57 a.m. EDT (12:57 GMT), leaving a fiery trail as it compressed the air molecules in its path, prompting over 200 fireball reports on the American Meteor Society website (AMS).
