Meteor fireball triggered loud boom across New England, NASA confirms

A bright fireball streaked across parts of New England in the US on Saturday afternoon, ‌accompanied by a loud boom, after a meteor broke apart high in the atmosphere, NASA said citing satellite imagery.

The event occurred at about 2:06pm EDT and was detected by eyewitnesses and NOAA's GOES-19 satellite, NASA said in a post on X.

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The meteor fragmented at an altitude of roughly 40 miles (64 km) over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire, the agency ‌added.

NASA estimated the energy released at breakup was equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, accounting for the loud noise reported across the region.

Meteors travel faster than the speed of sound, creating pressure waves as they burn and break apart in the atmosphere, which can produce a loud sonic boom that may be heard on the ground.