Another Major Fireball Above Washington, Oregon - Caught on Video on the Coast

Published 04/30/26 at 12:55 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Tillamook, Oregon) – One coastal city just announced the return of fireworks, but between the coming meteor showers, season of satellites and yet another major fireball above Oregon and Washington you may not need them for the Fourth. (Still photo from Wilhelm's video at Netarts)

The American Meteor Society (AMS) said a major fireball smacked the atmosphere at 12:12 a.m. this morning (April 29), creating a spectacular display above the Pacific Northwest and Canada, and caught on many door cams.

“Well over a hundred eyewitnesses in the states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia have filed reports on the American Meteor Society website of a bright fireball seen at 12:12 am Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, April 29 (2026 April 29, 07:12 UTC),” NASA said. “The information in these accounts has been combined with data from publicly accessible cameras in the region and from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper on the GOES-18 satellite to derive a trajectory for the meteor.”

People reported in from the Oregon and Washington coastlines, as far south as Newport – but with most reports up around Bremerton, Seattle and other Washington and Canadian cities.

It was caught on a ring camera in Netarts (Tillamook area) by Garry Wilhelm. Various NASA and NOAA satellites also snagged it and were able to discern much from that.

NASA said data shows it first became visible about 56 miles above Vancouver Island, moving to the southwest at 66,000 miles per hour.

“The object, likely a fragment from a comet about 2 feet in diameter with a weight of 1000 pounds, managed to travel 55 miles through the upper atmosphere before fragmenting 39 miles above the Pacific Ocean, about 20 miles west of the town of Yuquot,” NASA said.

A fireball is essentially a meteor that – among other things – doesn't zip by quickly like a shooting stat but instead falls rather slowly and extremely bright.

Jim Todd, astronomy expert for Portland's OMSI, explained more to Oregon Coast Beach Connection after staff saw two of these in a two-year period.

“Meteors, also known as shooting stars, are small celestial objects that enter the Earth's atmosphere,” Todd said. “A fireball is a particularly bright meteor that can be seen from a distance of about 60 to 80 miles above. As a meteor travels through the atmosphere at high speeds, it creates friction, which heats the meteor and causes it to vaporize.”

Experts say we're seeing so many now mostly because of so many ringcams and cellphones, and more ways of reporting them. So it's basically more eyes out there.

Be on the lookout for satellites doing amazing things in the skies of the northern hemisphere – wherever you are in that part of the world. Some of them are brighter than any star and move across the sky faster than aircraft. There is also the Etta Aquariids meteor shower peak coming up and May will include a Super Moon, a Micro Moon and Blue Moon.

The Super Moon in mid May will create extreme low tides and high tides along the coastlines. Super Moon, Blue Moon, Micro Moon and Meteor Shower - All Above Oregon / Washington Coast - Why we'll be getting extreme large and minus tides, plus meteors and more

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