Ottawa residents and drivers across Ontario had a once-in-a-while reason to pull over on Tuesday morning, a brilliant daytime fireball meteor streaked across the sky, lighting up the commute in a way no traffic report could have predicted.
What People Saw
At 8:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time on March 17, a glowing object tore across the sky, visible from a sweeping stretch of North America that included Ontario communities like Mississauga, Brampton, and Kingston. Multiple videos circulated quickly on social media showing a brilliant streak of light flashing and burning as it ripped through Earth's atmosphere. Along with the visual spectacle came reports of a loud boom heard across parts of Ontario, the kind of sound that had many people convinced something had exploded nearby.
NASA Weighs In
NASA confirmed the cause: a small asteroid measuring nearly six feet (about 1.8 metres) across and weighing just over 6,350 kilograms, roughly the weight of a loaded pickup truck, had entered the atmosphere. The fireball moved southeast at approximately 45 km per hour before fragmenting over Valley City. Fragments continued south and produced meteorites in Medina County, Ohio.
"Many eyewitnesses in the states of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of Ontario have filed reports on the American Meteor Society website of a very bright daylight fireball," NASA wrote in a statement.
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh also confirmed the event, sharing dashcam footage captured by one of their employees from the Pittsburgh area.
What It Means for Ottawa Skywatchers
For Ottawa-area residents, this was a rare reminder that the skies above the capital, often watched for northern lights and clear-night stargazing along the Rideau, occasionally serve up something far more dramatic. Daytime fireballs are uncommon precisely because they have to be bright enough to outshine the sun to be visible, and this one cleared that bar spectacularly.
If you missed it Tuesday, don't kick yourself too hard, events like this are genuinely rare. But Ottawa does sit within a prime skywatching corridor, and meteor showers throughout the year offer regular opportunities to catch something luminous. The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in late April, and the Perseids in August are reliably impressive from dark spots just outside the city like Mer Bleue or Gatineau Park.
How to Report Future Sightings
If you saw the fireball and haven't filed a report yet, the American Meteor Society accepts witness accounts at their website, even Canadian sightings. NASA and organizations like the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada also track fireball events and welcome public data.
Next time you're on your morning commute, maybe keep one eye on the sky.
Source: blogTO via NASA and the American Meteor Society.
