Residents from across Massachusetts are reporting hearing a loud boom Saturday afternoon, but it was not immediately clear what it was. Following initial reporting from Hearst Television sister station WCVB, multiple witnesses shared video of the sudden boom. All were recorded at approximately 2:11 p.m.At approximately that same time, NOAA’s GOES-19 weather satellite Geostationary Lightning Mapper shows a burst over the Massachusetts coast.After an afternoon of confusion, it was learned the sound was caused by a 3-foot-wide meteor entering the atmosphere near the Massachusetts and New Hampshire border, the American Meteor Society said. Robert Lunsford, the Fireball Program Monitor with the society, told the Associated Press that the group received dozens of reports from Delaware to Montreal with people either hearing the double boom, feeling the ground shake or seeing the fireball — which he said looks like a shooting star in the daytime sky.”It was definitely bigger than a normal fireball, about a yard wide,” he said.Lunsford said it’s unlikely the meteor struck the ground.Earlier, StormTeam 5 had said the evidence all suggested a possible meteor, although that could not immediately be confirmed.”The theory now is, and we don’t know for sure, could this have been maybe an exploding meteor coming into the atmosphere? That is kind of what we’re investigating right now. We don’t know for sure,” StormTeam 5’s A.J. Burnett said. “But the data suggests that that could be a very real possibility. I don’t think this was an earthquake.”Watch: Cameras across Massachusetts record loud boom at 2:11 p.m. on May 30Viewers shared similar experiences with WCVB, thinking a tree hit their home or a transformer blew up.”The whole house, actually all houses in the neighborhood, shook. Much louder than a transformer exploding and definitely not an earthquake,” one viewer from Melrose wrote. “We live in Wellesley and just heard what sounded like an explosion about 10 minutes ago. We understand it was felt over many areas,” another viewer wrote. “We heard it in Newtonville, and it was enough to set off the dog and make me think a big tree had come down because of the wind,” another viewer said. The Massachusetts Office of Public Safety and Security said it, too, received reports of an audible boom and ground tremors in Eastern Massachusetts. “Although we do not yet know the cause, there are no known emergency police or fire requests connected to these reports, and we do not believe there is any public safety threat,” they posted. “We remain in contact with our local, state, and federal partners to monitor any impact and understand the cause when it becomes available.”On Thursday, a possibly similar sonic boom was heard and felt in parts of South Carolina, according to The New York Times.WCVB has reached out to state officials, the Weston Observatory, and the U.S. Geological Survey for more information.
Residents from across Massachusetts are reporting hearing a loud boom Saturday afternoon, but it was not immediately clear what it was.
Following initial reporting from Hearst Television sister station WCVB, multiple witnesses shared video of the sudden boom. All were recorded at approximately 2:11 p.m.
At approximately that same time, NOAA’s GOES-19 weather satellite Geostationary Lightning Mapper shows a burst over the Massachusetts coast.
After an afternoon of confusion, it was learned the sound was caused by a 3-foot-wide meteor entering the atmosphere near the Massachusetts and New Hampshire border, the American Meteor Society said.
Robert Lunsford, the Fireball Program Monitor with the society, told the Associated Press that the group received dozens of reports from Delaware to Montreal with people either hearing the double boom, feeling the ground shake or seeing the fireball — which he said looks like a shooting star in the daytime sky.
“It was definitely bigger than a normal fireball, about a yard wide,” he said.
Lunsford said it’s unlikely the meteor struck the ground.
Earlier, StormTeam 5 had said the evidence all suggested a possible meteor, although that could not immediately be confirmed.
“The theory now is, and we don’t know for sure, could this have been maybe an exploding meteor coming into the atmosphere? That is kind of what we’re investigating right now. We don’t know for sure,” StormTeam 5’s A.J. Burnett said. “But the data suggests that that could be a very real possibility. I don’t think this was an earthquake.”
Watch: Cameras across Massachusetts record loud boom at 2:11 p.m. on May 30
Viewers shared similar experiences with WCVB, thinking a tree hit their home or a transformer blew up.
“The whole house, actually all houses in the neighborhood, shook. Much louder than a transformer exploding and definitely not an earthquake,” one viewer from Melrose wrote.
“We live in Wellesley and just heard what sounded like an explosion about 10 minutes ago. We understand it was felt over many areas,” another viewer wrote.
“We heard it in Newtonville, and it was enough to set off the dog and make me think a big tree had come down because of the wind,” another viewer said.
The Massachusetts Office of Public Safety and Security said it, too, received reports of an audible boom and ground tremors in Eastern Massachusetts.
“Although we do not yet know the cause, there are no known emergency police or fire requests connected to these reports, and we do not believe there is any public safety threat,” they posted. “We remain in contact with our local, state, and federal partners to monitor any impact and understand the cause when it becomes available.”
On Thursday, a possibly similar sonic boom was heard and felt in parts of South Carolina, according to The New York Times.
WCVB has reached out to state officials, the Weston Observatory, and the U.S. Geological Survey for more information.
