(NEW YORK) — New England residents were rocked Saturday after a fast-moving meteor in the Earth’s atmosphere sent a loud boom that was heard in parts of the state.
NASA told ABC News in a statement that the meteor, also known as a “fireball,” was detected around 2:06 p.m. and was traveling at a speed of 75,000 mph.
“The meteor appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast Massachusetts and southeast New Hampshire. The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise,” NASA said.
A NASA spokesperson said the fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower but said it was a natural object and not space debris or a satellite re-entering the atmosphere.
NASA later said it “was a daytime bolide that produced” meteorite fragments that fell “in the middle of Cape Cod Bay.”
Several people took to social media in the afternoon to post videos of the sound heard throughout the eastern part of the state.
“We are getting numerous reports from residents of hearing a loud boom sound. It was heard over the eastern part of the state. Unknown origin no reports of hazards at this time,” the Watertown Police Department said in a statement.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said in a statement they also received similar reports of “an audible boom and ground tremors.”
At the time the agency issued its statement, it said there were no known emergency, police or fire requests connected to the boom and there was not believed to be any public safety threat.
The United States Geological Survey said Saturday evening that the boom was from a suspected bolide, which is the scientific term for a meteor that explodes in the atmosphere.
“Unlike earthquakes which occur at discrete location in the earth, sonic boom events occur along a linear path in the atmosphere,” the USGS said.
ABC News’ Matthew Glasser contributed to this report.
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