“...maybe not Romans proper but Byzantines (Constantinople) sure would have recorded it.” [jjoto, post 34]
Not necessarily.
Airbursts don’t always occur at the same altitude.
The burst in question may have happened at such a low altitude that its occurrence, and the aftermath, may have been below the horizon for observers in the Eastern Roman Empire.
In any event, it’s unlikely that even the best-informed civilized intellects of the Sixth Century AD could have reasoned their way to a correct interpretation of what they were seeing.
Very good points.