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From the archive: the WTH team wrote this up from a real event that was widely reported at the time, to show how the checks work. The sources are at the end of the description.

From the archive · #fu4aafmxjjjf

A daytime fireball and a boom near McAllen, Texas

McAllen, Texas, US · Feb 15, 2023, 5:23 PM CST · written up by the WTH team from published reports

Space rock, burning up

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Sky Snapshot 5:23 PM, give or take 15 minutes

NSEWVenusJupiterMarsSaturn
Sky
daylight
Moon
waning crescent, below the horizon
Planets up
Venus (39°), Jupiter (53°), Mars (59°), Saturn (13°)
Bright stars
Sirius (southeast 15°), Capella (northeast 52°), Rigel (southeast 38°), Procyon (east 14°)
Weather
clear, wind 26 km/h
Space weather
active (Kp 4.3)
Sunset
6:25 PM

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What people saw

When
Feb 15, 2023, 5:23 PM CST
Where
McAllen, Texas, US
Looking
west, mid in the sky
Lasted
5 seconds
Looked like
one, white/orange, streak, fast, with a trail
Sound
boom

At 5:23 PM on February 15, 2023, people around McAllen, Texas, heard what sounded like an explosion, and doorbell cameras caught the ground shaking. Pilots and weather radar picked up a fireball breaking apart in broad daylight.

NASA said it was a meteoroid about 60 cm across and weighing around 450 kg, traveling at about 43,000 km/h, which broke apart about 34 km up. Meteorite fragments were later found in Starr County.

Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meteor-mcallen-texas-identified-meteorite-nasa
https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/texas-meteorite-found-starr-county

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From above the area, the way they looked, and what was overhead

The map needs JavaScript. The checks below list everything it shows.

The circle is the area the report came from, rounded to about 10 km. We never show a witness's exact spot.

See it in 3D on the Sky Globe, at the moment it was seen

What it could be

  1. Meteor or fireball Likely100%
    • +35Over in seconds: that is a meteor.
    • +20Very fast streaking motion fits.
    • +15A streak or trail is the meteor signature.
    • +15Breaking into pieces is classic fireball behavior.
    • +5Green, blue or orange flashes come from the glowing metals in a meteoroid.
    • +10A boom a minute or more later means a large fireball (and maybe meteorites on the ground).
    • -5Daylight fireballs happen, but only the very bright ones show.
  2. Fireworks Doesn't fit45%
    • +15Brief bursts fit fireworks.
    • +10Colored bursts fit.
    • +15Bangs that arrive right after the flash fit fireworks.
  3. Space debris re-entry Doesn't fit25%
    • +20Multiple fragments traveling together is the re-entry look.
    • +10Glowing trails behind each piece.
    • +5Orange-white fragments fit.
    • -15Too brief; a re-entry is slower than a meteor.
    • ·Re-entry predictions (Space-Track TIP messages) are checked when available.

What we checked

  • ·Satellites: not checked (orbit data missing)
  • ·Starlink trains: not checked
  • ✓Launches: none within 90 minutes and 3,000 km
  • ·Aircraft: not checked (no flight history feed yet)
  • ✓Planets and Moon: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and the Moon was down
  • ✓Space weather: active (Kp 4.3)
  • ✓Weather: clear
  • ✓Meteor showers: none active
How we worked this out

We took a snapshot of the sky from 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after Feb 15, 2023, 11:23 PM UTC at 26.20, -98.23, and scored 23 possible explanations. Each one starts from how common it is, then gains or loses points for every detail the witness gave and every record we found. The points are listed next to each reason above. "Likely" means 80% or more and "Possible" means 50 to 79%. Anything lower doesn't fit, and if nothing reaches 50%, the case stays unexplained.

Sources: launch schedule from Launch Library 2; planetary Kp from GFZ Potsdam; weather from Open-Meteo; Sun, Moon and planet positions worked out on our server with astronomy-engine. Engine 0.4.0, snapshot v2, worked out Oct 29, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC.

Not available for this report: satellite passes.

Discussion 0 replies

Sky Investigator AI first look

This one is a well-documented fireball. The case is in our archive, so the account below is about what people saw and how it was identified, not a first-hand report. The top match is a meteor or fireball, scored 100. Its reasons are the short duration, the fast streaking motion, the single bright trail, and the breakup into pieces, which is typical of a fireball. The record also says it was seen around 5:23 PM Central on February 15, 2023, over McAllen, Texas, in broad daylight, with a boom heard on the ground and doorbell cameras picking up shaking. NASA later estimated the rock was about 60 cm across and broke apart roughly 34 km up, and meteorite fragments were recovered in Starr County. Fireworks and space debris re-entry scored well below it, and the record gives both weak fits. Lightning, sprites and sunlit contrails were scored lowest, and the daytime sky and absence of thunder point away from them.

This reply only uses the sky checks above, so it can't claim more than the data shows. Was it helpful?

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