From conversation with Grok
In the last 3 months (roughly March 5–June 5, 2026), hundreds of distinct multi-witness fireball events occurred, with thousands of individual sighting reports. For context:
• The IMO’s fireball database showed ~2,500–2,600 individual reports in the most recent 30 days alone (late May–early June).
fireball.imo.net fireball.amsmeteors.org
• Over a full 90-day period at similar rates, this suggests ~7,000 individual reports.
• The AMS/IMO events database (filtering for events with ≥5 reports) lists 467 such events for all of 2026 so far (Jan–early June). Recent months (April–June) account for dozens of these, with many more lower-report events on earlier pagination pages.
fireball.imo.net
Was there an increase?
Yes, particularly for large/bright fireballs in Q1 2026 (Jan–Mar), with the peak in March. Total events stayed roughly normal compared to prior years, but large events (50 reports) roughly doubled the 5-year average, and some metrics (sonic booms, long-duration sightings) hit records. This continued at elevated levels into April–June with several high-report events.
amsmeteors.org amsmeteors.org abcnews.com
• Q1 2026 stats (AMS analysis): 2,322 total events (highest on record but only slightly above 2021–2022). 40 events with 50 reports (vs. ~20 average); 16 with 100 reports (vs. ~8 average). March drove most of the surge.
amsmeteors.org
• Experts (NASA, AMS) note this partly overlaps with “fireball season” (Feb–April, when rates can rise 10–30% due to geometry of Earth’s orbit and sporadic meteoroids from the Anthelion radiant). No evidence of unusual risk or incoming swarm—just more bright, slow-moving ones that get widely seen and reported.
nasa.gov
Major fireball events in the last 3 months (selected high-report ones)
Here are notable multi-witness events (≥30 reports) from April–early June 2026, drawn from AMS/IMO logs (many more smaller events exist). I’ve included dates, report counts, locations, and direct links:
• June 2, 2026 (20:29 UT): 300 reports – Europe (BE, FR, DE, IT, etc.) → Event 3969-2026
fireball.imo.net
• June 2, 2026 (02:42 UT): 245 reports – US/Canada (IL, IN, KY, MI, etc.) → Event 3962-2026
fireball.imo.net
• May 31, 2026 (21:05 UT): 32 reports – Europe (IT, AT, HR) → Event 3932-2026
fireball.imo.net
• May 31, 2026 (20:16 UT): 30 reports – Europe (IT, AL, GR) → Event 3931-2026
fireball.imo.net
• May 30–31, 2026: Multiple events (33–86 reports) across US West, Midwest, and East Coast → e.g., Event 3867-2026, Event 3868-2026
amsmeteors.org
• May 27, 2026 (09:11 UT): 88 reports – US/Canada (MI, NY, OH, etc.) → Event 3797-2026
fireball.imo.net
• April 29, 2026: 157 reports – US West (OR, WA) → Event 3168-2026
amsmeteors.org
• April 24, 2026: 361 reports (very large) → Event 3042-2026
amsmeteors.org
(Full logs go back further into March with even more high-report events; see the Q1 analysis for details.)
Where to check live or historical data
• AMS Fireball Reports (US-focused but global):
fireball.amsmeteors.org or
amsmeteors.org/fireballs amsmeteors.org
• IMO Global Fireball Browser:
fireball.imo.net/browse_even… and browse_reports (filterable by date)
fireball.imo.net
• AMS Q1 2026 analysis (explains the early-year surge):
amsmeteors.org/ams-q1-2026-f… amsmeteors.org
• Weekly meteor outlooks:
amsmeteors.org (see May/June 2026 posts)
Bottom line: You’re right that bright fireballs have seemed more frequent—especially large multi-state or multi-country ones in March–June 2026—but the data shows this is mostly an uptick in notable (bright/slow) sporadic meteors rather than a sudden global increase in all meteors