The UFO was witnessed at around 2 a. m. by many across South Carolina, inspiring over 30 calls to the 911 service to report the explosion. Cindie Stubbs of Fountain Inn told reporters, “I saw this big, bright light that made the sand almost sparkle. It was so bright, it scared me.” She added that she thought for an instant it was aliens.
The scientists’ version of the story is predictably less colorful. Said Charles St. Luca, of the Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville astronomy department, “It sounds like a typical bolide. A bolide is a meteor that comes in, heats up and this one broke apart into three or four pieces, and glowed a bright blue-white. This was kind of a rogue object — no way to predict it — and that makes it even more delightful.”
One Fox affiliate even caught the spectacle on its security camera.
The location of its crash is not yet known.