Meteor Fireball Explodes Over New England With Force of 300 Tons of TNT, Shaking Homes Across Multiple States
A bright fireball streaked across the daytime sky over the northeastern United States on Saturday, breaking apart with an explosive force equivalent to 300 tons of TNT and triggering a double sonic boom that rattled buildings from Delaware to Montreal.
A meteor roughly one meter wide entered Earth's atmosphere over New England on Saturday afternoon, creating a spectacular fireball and a powerful double boom that alarmed residents across multiple states. NASA confirmed the event using satellite imagery and eyewitness reports.
The Event
The meteor entered the atmosphere near the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, north of Boston, at approximately 2:06 p.m. EDT (1806 GMT). It fragmented at an altitude of roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire. NASA estimated the energy released at breakup was equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT.
This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite.
The meteor was traveling at approximately 75,000 miles per hour (more than 120,000 kilometers per hour) when it disintegrated. The American Meteor Society noted the object was about 3 feet (nearly 1 meter) wide.
Public Reaction
Residents across the region reported hearing two quick, successive booms, with many saying their houses shook from the impact. Police and fire departments in Massachusetts and Rhode Island received numerous calls from concerned citizens. Some people reported feeling vibrations, while others saw a fireball resembling a shooting star in the daytime sky.
It was definitely bigger than a normal fireball, being about a meter wide.
The United States Geological Survey also received a high volume of notifications from people who felt the ground shake, prompting the agency to open a dedicated page for the incident.
Widespread Sightings
The American Meteor Society received dozens of reports from an extensive area stretching from Delaware to Montreal, Canada. People either heard the double boom, felt the ground shake, or observed the fireball. Videos circulating on social media captured the sound of two quick booms without any visible signs of fire, smoke, or other ground-level effects.
Scientific Context
Meteors traveling faster than the speed of sound create pressure waves as they burn and break apart in the atmosphere, which can produce loud sonic booms audible on the ground. Robert Lunsford, the Fireball Program Monitor with the American Meteor Society, stated that the object likely disintegrated in the atmosphere before reaching the water's surface, and most such objects burn up before hitting the ground.
We would need more information about trajectory, speed, and other aspects to know for sure if it hit the ground, but if it didn't burn up, then it would have landed in the ocean.
Recent Similar Events
The incident occurred just two days after a similar event in South Carolina, where residents were puzzled by a rumbling noise on Thursday around 5:30 p.m. The back-to-back events fueled speculation on social media, with some entertaining theories ranging from nuclear attacks to alien invasions before NASA confirmed the natural cause.
- Meteor enters atmosphere near New Hampshire-Massachusetts border at 75,000 mph
- Fireball fragments at 40 miles altitude, releasing energy of 300 tons TNT
- Double sonic boom heard across New England, shaking buildings
- Police and fire departments begin receiving calls from concerned residents
- NASA confirms meteor event via satellite imagery and issues public statement
