- A meteor approximately 3 feet in diameter caused explosive sounds over Massachusetts, as reported by the American Meteor Society.
- According to NASA, the meteor entered the atmosphere at a speed of 75,000 mph, resulting in an explosion equivalent to 300 tons of TNT.
- Despite reports of tremors from Delaware to Montreal, there was no confirmation of the meteor impacting the ground.
BOSTON — On Saturday afternoon, residents across New England reported hearing an explosion, leading to a flurry of activity from police and other agencies as they sought to identify the source of the double boom that rattled buildings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The American Meteor Society clarified that the explosive sounds were actually the result of a meteor, approximately 3 feet in diameter, entering the atmosphere near the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, to the north of Boston.
NASA officials verified that the meteor was composed of natural material and not a piece of satellite or space debris. They confirmed its entry into the atmosphere at 2:06 p.m.
Robert Lunsford, a program monitor for the American Meteor Society, stated that the organization received numerous reports from Delaware to Montreal. Witnesses reported hearing the double boom, feeling the ground shake, or seeing the fireball, which he described as a daytime shooting star.
“The fireball was certainly larger than usual, measuring about a yard in width,” he added.
However, Lunsford expressed doubt that the meteor had made contact with the ground.
“To confirm if it hit the ground, we would need more details about its trajectory, speed, and other factors. If it didn’t burn up completely, it would have landed in the ocean. Most meteors do burn up before reaching the ground,” he explained.
NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel stated that the meteor was moving at approximately 75,000 mph and likely disintegrated about 40 miles above the ground. The agency estimated that the energy released during its fragmentation was equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which would account for the explosive sounds.
Residents in several states took to social media to share their experiences of buildings shaking. Numerous videos on the X platform recorded what sounded like two rapid booms, with no visible signs of fire, smoke, or other causes.
A number of individuals submitted reports to the U.S. Geological Survey, registering the tremors they felt with the National Earthquake Information Center, confirmed agency spokesman Steve Sobie.
The agency created an event page based on the volume of “Did you feel it?” reports it received on its website. However, Sobie clarified that no event was registered on the agency’s seismographs, indicating that the shaking was not caused by an earthquake.
Disagree – Unlikely, sounds like a hoax.