Per capita cheese consumption in the USFireball meteor sightings reported
Between 2005 and 2022, Americans ate more cheese and Americans reported more bright meteors streaking across the night sky, and the two quantities have risen together (r = 0.957) in a combination so unserious that it feels almost healing. The pizza was extra cheesy; the sky was extra bright. The universe, briefly, made both possible.
US per capita cheese consumption grew from about 30 pounds in 2005 to over 41 pounds by 2022, with pizza alone accounting for a significant share. Fireball meteor sightings reported to the American Meteor Society grew from about 800 per year to over 9,000, almost entirely because smartphones made filing a report into a 90-second task instead of a letter-writing errand. The real correlation is technological: two categories that scaled when their friction dropped — cheese's friction was marketing and SKUs, the fireball sighting's friction was reporting form design. Both became easy; both exploded.
A slice is served. A streak is reported. The sky and the dinner plate, both generous, recently.
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