NASA has now confirmed that the mysterious fireball seen across the southeast was a meteor – weighing in at a ton and unleashing energy equal to 20 tons of TNT.

A fireball was spotted shooting through the sky in the Southeastern U.S. as a meteor shower was reported in the area Thursday afternoon, officials said. The meteor shower, which the National Weather Service confirmed, remained visible hours after the initial sightings, a spokesperson for Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency in Georgia said.