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GOES-19 GLM captures the signature of a bolide over Lake Erie and northern Ohio

By Scott Bachmeier •

5-minute GOES-19 Visible images with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density [click to play MP4 animation]

5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) Visible images with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density (above) showed the signature of a high-altitude bolide that was moving from southwestern Lake Erie toward far northern Ohio during the 5-minute period ending at 1301 UTC on 17 March 2026. This bolide created a sonic boom that was heard in several communities.

GLM gridded products such as Flash Extent Density are plotted to correspond to a mean cloud top height — which is about 10 km over CONUS. Non-gridded GLM parameters such as Groups (below) include a parallax correction that maps them to the surface — which if removed, shifts the Group locations to the north so that they more closely correspond to the location of the Flash Extent Density signature.

GOES-19 Visible image at 1301 UTC on 17 March, with 5-minute GLM Groups (red) plotted in their default “cloud top” locations and parallax-corrected “surface” locations [click to enlarge]

A map of fireball reports from the American Meteor Society site (below) displayed the large area from which this event was seen. A closer view indicated that the bolide likely traveled along a north-to-south trajectory. More details on the asteroid that caused the fireball is available here.

Map of fireball reports [click to enlarge]

Categories: GLM, GOES-19