美国各地的人们最近几个月，随着可见流星的数量在高峰期“火球季节”增加，我已经享受到了流星划过天空的视觉盛宴
据报道，最近美国各地都可以看到流星，从德克萨斯州，俄亥俄州，加利福尼亚州和密歇根州美国国家航空航天局.
流星很常见，任何时候都可能发生。但根据美国国家航空航天局的说法，高峰期“火球季”通常从二月持续到四月，那时明亮流星的比率会增加10%到30%。
那段时间流星目击率上升的确切原因尚不清楚，但一些天文学家认为地球在一年中的这个时候会经过更多的大碎片。
这美国流星协会在这一季也收到了越来越多的询问。它说，“二月火球”是一种“记录良好”的现象，在这种现象中，明亮的零星流星增多。
每年二月，通常会有一个火球，因为这部分天空在晚上位置较高，这使得流星更容易被发现。
今年有所不同，因为激增不是在2月份达到峰值。数据显示，这一峰值延续至3月份，是过去五年中最显著的一次一;一个AMS报告。
AMS的运营经理Mike Hankey证实，不仅有更多的报告进来，而且我们看到真正更大的流星进入我们的大气层。
“当一颗陨石穿过一户人家的屋顶，这不是炒作，”汉基告诉美国广播公司新闻。“那是物理上真实的。”
汉克进入了该组织的数据库，追溯到2011年。他发现，虽然火球的总数只比往年略高，但真正大火球的出现频率更高了。
“我们看到越来越多的报道涉及更大的事件或者我们认为是更大的事件，”Hankey解释说。
根据AMS的数据，在2026年第一季度，大火球事件出现了显著的激增。
大约有2，046起单独报告的流星事件;根据AMS，38起事件涉及50份或更多报告，14起事件涉及100份或更多报告。
根据Hankey的说法，2026年迄今为止大多数升高的活动发生在2026年3月。在他的报告中，他把这个月的目击事件称为“前所未有的大火球的集中”
“五年多来，它真的非常平稳和稳定，”汉基说。“然后突然之间，我们在这个月，在3月份收到了大量报告——甚至不是从2月份或1月份开始的。”
流星发生时，流星体-或太空岩石-进入地球的大气层，并“拉链”通过大气层，根据美国国家航空航天局。当许多流星体同时遇到大气层时，就被认为是流星雨。
Hankey说，许多这些火球来自太空中已知的来源。其中一个来源被称为“安瑟利翁”零星流，基本上是地球经常经过的剩余空间碎片区域。
一个潜在的美国国家航空航天局说，流星报告数量增加的原因可能是更多的摄像头，从智能手机到门铃和汽车仪表板摄像头。
3月21日，一颗1吨重的流星划过夜空分裂成一个火球当它进入地球大气层时，引起了巨大的爆炸。另一颗流星于3月17日被观测到俄亥俄州和宾夕法尼亚州。匹兹堡的国家气象局称，那颗流星还在天空中产生了一声巨响和一个火球。
根据美国国家航空航天局的说法，当流星以高超音速或超过音速的速度穿过地球大气层时，它们会发出“砰”的一声。这种巨大的爆炸声音通常被称为“音爆”
汉基说，音爆也证实了更大的物体正在穿过大气层。
“当100个人报告它有音爆时，几十个人报告他们的窗户嘎嘎作响或摇晃，它跨越几个州或600英里，”汉基说。“那不是编造的。”
AMS表示，在2026年的前三个月，38起事件中有30起涉及50起或更多的报告涉及音爆。
根据AMS的数据，报告最多的事件发生在3月8日，在法国、德国、瑞士、比利时和荷兰上空缓慢、持续时间长的火球收到了3229份报告。
回收的陨石样本被鉴定为闪长岩，一种罕见的类型。
那次事件之后，一波大流星穿过欧洲和美国进入地球大气层。其中一些流星在撞击地面时产生了陨石。一些碎片是在俄亥俄州和德克萨斯州找到的。
汉克说，目前还不清楚升高的流星活动何时会停止。
“这对我来说也是个谜，”他说。
What to know about 'fireball season' as the number of visible meteors peaks for the year
People across the United Stateshave been treated to a visual feast of shooting stars streaking through the sky in recent months, as the number of visible meteors has increased amid peak "fireball season."
Meteors have recently been seen throughout the U.S. -- from Texas, Ohio, California and Michigan, according toNASA.
Meteors are common and can happen at any given time. But peak "fireball season" typically runs from February through April, when the rate of bright meteors can increase by 10% to 30%, according to NASA.
The exact reason for the uptick in meteor sightings during that time is unclear, but some astronomers believe the Earth passes through more large debris at that time of year.
TheAmerican Meteor Societyhas also been fielding a growing number of inquiries during this season. The "February fireballs" are a "well-documented" phenomenon in which an increase of bright sporadic meteors occurs, it said.
Every February, there is typically a bump in fireballs because that part of the sky sits higher at night, which can make meteors easier to spot.
This year is different because the surge didn't peak in February. The spike spilled into March and was the most significant in the last five years, according toanAMS report.
Mike Hankey, the operations manager of the AMS, confirmed that not only are there more reports coming in, but we are seeing genuinely larger meteors entering our atmosphere.
"When a meteorite goes through a home's roof, that isn't hype," Hankey told ABC News. "That's physically real.”
Hankey dug into the organization's database, going back to 2011. What he found was that while the total number of fireballs is only slightly higher than in previous years, sightings of really big ones are happening more often.
"We see more reports across the bigger events or what we consider to be bigger events," Hankey explained.
There has been a significant surge of large fireball events during the first quarter of 2026, according to the AMS.
There were about 2,046 individual reported meteor events; 38 events that involved 50 or more reports and 14 events that involved 100 or more reports, according to the AMS.
Most of the elevated activity so far in 2026 took place in March 2026, according to Hankey. In his report, he referred to the month's sightings as an "unprecedented concentration of major fireballs.”
"It's been really very flat and consistent for over five years," Hankey said. "Then all of a sudden, we get this rush of reports this month, in March -- didn't start in February or really January, even.”
Shooting stars occur when a meteoroid -- or space rock -- enters Earth's atmosphere and "zips" through the atmosphere, according toNASA. When many meteoroids encounter the atmosphere at once, it's considered a meteor shower.
Many of these fireballs are coming from known sources in space, Hankey said. One of those sources is called the "Anthelion" sporadic stream, which is basically a region of leftover space debris that Earth regularly passes through.
Onepotentialreason the number of reports of meteors is increasing is likely more cameras, from smartphones to doorbell and vehicle dashboard cameras, NASA said.
On March 21, a 1-ton meteor streaked across the night sky beforebreaking up into a fireballthat caused a loud boom as it entered Earth's atmosphere. Another meteor was seen on March 17 overOhio and Pennsylvania. That meteor also produced a loud "boom" and a fireball in the sky, the National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh said.
Meteors can make a "boom" when they travel through Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speeds -- or speeds that exceed the speed of sound, according to NASA. The loud, explosive sound is often called a "sonic boom."
Sonic booms also confirm larger objects are moving through the atmosphere, Hankey said.
"When 100 people report it has a sonic boom, dozens of people report their windows rattling or shaking, it's reported across several states or 600 miles," Hankey said. "That isn't made up.”
During the first three months of 2026, 30 out of 38 events with 50 or more reports involved a sonic boom, the AMS said.
The event with the most reports occurred on March 8, in which a slow, long-duration fireball over France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands garnered 3,229 reports, according to the AMS.
Recovered specimens of that meteorite were identified as Diogenites, a rare type.
That event was followed by a wave of large meteors entering Earth's atmosphere across Europe and the U.S. Some of those meteors produced meteorites when they hit the ground. Some of the fragments were recovered in Ohio and Texas.
It is unclear when the elevated meteor activity will stop, Hankey said.
"This is a mystery to me, too," he said.
