The reaction to the March 17 meteor over many US states was pretty dramatic. In a clip from the local news, the anchors frame this event to suggest that fireballs are rare and scary, prompting ideas that we might be bombarded with fiery space boulders that can destroy us. I was glad to see they got a knowledgeable person to chime in. Yet, I don’t think he was able to calm the anxiety much of the populace feels about the current state of the world.
This event occurred in the context of several other events.
The Ohio Bigfoot flap
Occurring in the same general area as the meteor breakup, those who have a more paranormal mindset suggested that the Bigfoots knew of the coming meteor and were fleeing from it.
This is stupid in so many different ways. Yet, about 20% of the US populace entertain at least a casual belief in Bigfoot and they might consider that the poorly witnessed claims are accurate. Weird lights or UFO reports happening in conjunction with creature sightings are not a unique thing. In fact, it’s a hot topic in communities of researchers and followers of “high strangeness” accounts. People have been “seeing” Bigfoot since the 1960s and yet we have no better evidence.
War in the Middle East
I’ll be honest, if I saw the fireball in real time, in daylight, I’d be a bit freaked out too, afraid that it might be a missile or bomb. These are scary times. The fact that it was just a meteor and did no significant damage is a relief.
Chatter about UAP, drones, and disclosure
Government persons and the media are pushing the agenda that something strange and nefarious is going on. While some of the technology may be new, these ideas have been circulating since the late 1940s with no better evidence.
Meteor mash-up
Those pattern-seekers among us (which is most people) will shoehorn these disparate events into a single big picture to try to make sense of it. Instead of calm, critical evaluation, we can get extreme speculation and imaginative fiction. Tabloids, content producers, and para-celebs jumped on these coincidental events and tied them into a clickbait narrative that is appealing to some. Suddenly, anything seen in the sky was part of the manufactured narrative.
The Daily Mail (UK) - a notoriously crappy source of sensationalist news and gossip - was one of several non-credible sources that promoted the idea that we are seeing a spate of strange sky events. That’s how they operator to get people to their website.
Fireballs were seen around the world, for several nights - this is not uncommon and a simple check would show that. See the fireball log at the American Meteor Society. Those who are saying the sky is falling didn’t even do a modicum of reasonable checking.
The Red Oak event
A second incident on March 17 really got the ball rolling. Called the “Red Oak meteor”, the orange object had a glowing tale and deliberately moved up, down, and around in the sky. It appeared to not be a meteor at all.
First reported by local meteorologists as another meteor, it clearly was not that. The best answer was that it was a “pyrotechnic” plane out of the Lancaster, TX airport. Or, it could be a pyrotechnic drone instead. I have not been able to confirm, but it seems entirely reasonable because that’s exactly what it looks like. You can see how it would appear startling to people who have just heard about the Ohio event earlier in the day.
“This is the fourth such object in a week, and fifth overall in 2026, to make an appearance anywhere in the world - Ohio, Turkey, Australia and New York,” writes a news editor with WION (World Is One News), an Indian-based international English news channel. The careless (or deliberately dramatic) take was passed off as news without legitimate fact checking. Failing to clarify that meteors are not uncommon, and to depict this Texas event as a mysterious meteor instead of a human device, misinforms readers.
The AMS did not log this as an event because it was not a meteor. If you are going to believe it is something other than a mundane earth-based thing, you do you, but that’s simply not a reasonable position.
We’re being played
Biased media has a habit of promoting scary scenarios to get people to tune in or click. However, way more than ever before, one kooky idea by a TikTokker or YouTuber, or some illegitimate Facebook “news” page can snowball and be picked up by lazy news media looking for the latest story. Then it ends up looking more legitimate because “lots of people” are talking about it. Really, it’s a seed placed in the “compost” of the internet algorithms that grows like a noxious weed.
Finally, I don’t feel good about writing this stuff. I wish I could ignore it but anomalies are so interesting to me. In observing the situation, I put it in writing to work out my own thoughts with the hope that some might realize that the story can be unpacked and debunked, as it should be, not simply taken at face value without critical evaluation. I have a really hard time finding legitimate sources of news these days. Instead, one has to look at many sources and sort through the massive amounts of garbage to find the probable legitimate facts to make reasonable conclusions. Many people are content to just eat what they are fed.
Is there something to be scared of regarding rains of space rocks? Not really. It happens all the time. Is there a conspiracy to hide bizarre finds about alternate dimensions, psychic Bigfoots, and sky entities portending the end of the world? No.
These are strange times. An individual person can’t really do much more against the massive push to convince people to buy into absurd beliefs. Resist the endless stream of bullshit and nonsense. Roll your eyes, say No, and move on.
We live in the Age of Stupid. Unfortunately. It is difficult to remain rational and hard not to be depressed by the state of mind of our fellow citizens.
Hi Sharon.
Enjoying ur as alwz provocative columns and thoughtful anaylses.
"Occurring in the same general area as the meteor breakup, those who have a more paranormal mindset suggested that the Bigfoots knew of the coming meteor and were fleeing from it."
Stupid indeed. Not the least: how to ascertain a cryptid's mindset, let alone its precognitive talent??
"I don’t feel good about writing this stuff. I wish I could ignore it but anomalies are so interesting to me. In observing the situation, I put it in writing to work out my own thoughts with the hope that some might realize that the story can be unpacked and debunked, as it should be, not simply taken at face value without critical evaluation."
Anomalies are indeed interesting. It's one thing that brings us both some joy in these most challenging times. One challenge being the determination of what are, and are not, edible sources to evaluate - especially when some sources that promote themselves as unbiased and scientific, hence credible, are demonstrably not.
"These are strange times. ... Resist the endless stream of bullshit and nonsense. Roll your eyes, say No, and move on."
Strange, yes. Dangerous too. The "endless stream of bullshit and nonsense" pertains to more than hyping absurdities about fortean phenomena. Listen to any presser by the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and hear/see an "endless stream" from which one should not eye-roll and move on, but resist.