Meteor explodes over Massachusetts, massive sonic booms spark panic: What's happening

A meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere and exploded over the northeastern United States on Saturday (May 30), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said. It was also confirmed by the American Meteor Society that said that loud boom heard by residents in multiple states was a 3-foot wide meteor exploding near the Massachusetts and New Hampshire border. Several videos on social media showed people in panic as the sound of double boom was heard. The boom reportedly shook buildings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. According to Associated Press, initially, the police agencies and others scrambled to understand what caused it.

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What was the meteor like?

NASA, in a post on X, said that the meteor appeared to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast MA and southeast NH. “The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise,” NASA explained. The agency's officials also confirmed that the meteor was natural material, not a satellite or space debris, and entered the atmosphere at 2:06 p.m (local time). American Meteor Society program monitor Robert Lunsford said that it was unlikely the meteor struck the ground. “It was definitely bigger than a normal fireball, about a yard wide,” he said. “We would need more information about the trajectory the 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,” he added.