According to the Associated Press, on the afternoon of May 30 local time, residents in several areas of New England reported hearing loud noises to the police and other authorities.
The American Meteor Society stated that the loud noise heard by people actually came from a meteor with a diameter of about 3 feet (approximately 1 meter). This meteor entered the atmosphere at the border between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, north of Boston.
NOAAs map shows the location where the meteor entered the atmosphere. CBS
U.S. NASA officials confirmed that this meteor was natural material, not a satellite or space debris. It entered the atmosphere at 2:06 PM local time on the 30th.
Robert Lunsford, a member of the American Meteor Association, said that the association has received dozens of reports. People reported hearing two loud noises, feeling ground shaking, or seeing fireballs.
Lunsford said that its unlikely for the meteor to hit the ground. We need more information about its trajectory, speed, and other factors in order to determine whether it will hit the ground. But if it doesnt burn up in the air, then it should fall into the sea.
NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel said that the meteors flight speed was approximately 75,000 miles per hour (about 120,700 kilometers per hour). It is likely that the meteor disintegrated about 40 miles above the ground (about 64 kilometers above the ground).
The agency estimates that the energy released when the meteor broke apart is equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT explosives. This explains the cause of the loud noise.
According to reports, some local residents posted messages on social media, stating that they felt the building was shaking. Some videos captured two loud noises, but there was no fire or smoke involved.
An official from the U.S. Geological Survey, Steve Sobie, stated on the same day that the seismograph did not record any seismic activity.
