NASA said a five-foot-wide meteor weighing roughly as much as an elephant broke apart above New England, releasing energy equivalent to about 230 tons of TNT and sparking widespread reports of shaking and loud booms.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A loud double boom that rattled parts of New England over the weekend was caused by a large meteor that broke apart high above the region before falling into Cape Cod Bay, NASA said.
The event startled residents across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and beyond Saturday, prompting reports of shaking homes, frightened pets and speculation about whether the noise had been caused by an earthquake, a fallen tree, an explosion or something else.
NASA later confirmed that the source was a fireball, then released additional details Monday describing the object as about 5 feet wide and roughly as heavy as an elephant. The agency said the meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere at about 42,000 mph and released energy equivalent to an estimated 230 tons of TNT as it broke apart miles above New England.
The meteor traveled about 26 miles through the atmosphere before falling into Cape Cod Bay off southeastern Massachusetts, NASA said. The agency said the object was natural material, not a satellite or space debris.
The sudden booms led many residents to ask the same questions online.
“Did anyone else hear that boom?” some posted.
“Anyone feel that?” others asked.
In Peabody, Massachusetts, one man said the weather had been windy enough that he first thought a large tree had struck his house. When he went outside, he said, many of his neighbors were already in the street trying to determine what had happened.
Others reported that their dogs were frightened by the noise. At least one person raised the possibility of aliens as speculation spread before NASA identified the cause.
The U.S. Geological Survey received multiple reports from people who felt shaking and submitted “Did you feel it?” notices to the National Earthquake Information Center, agency spokesman Steve Sobie confirmed. The volume of reports led the agency to open an event page, but Sobie said no earthquake was detected on seismographs.
That meant the shaking was not caused by seismic activity.
The American Meteor Society also received dozens of reports from witnesses across a wide area, including Delaware to Montreal. Robert Lunsford, the organization’s program monitor, said people reported hearing the double boom, feeling the ground shake or seeing the fireball.
NASA said meteors are common but often go unnoticed because they occur over oceans, remote areas or during daylight hours.
“They often occur over the ocean or unpopulated areas with no witnesses, or during the daytime, making them difficult to spot,” NASA said.
This meteor drew attention because it passed over a populated region and produced a powerful audible shock that was widely felt and heard across New England.
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