‘Fireball’ meteor flew over NYC amid reports of loud boom that shook city: NASA

New Yorkers were going astir an different normal Tuesday greeting erstwhile dozens of eyewitnesses opportunity they saw a funny show successful nan sky: a flaming streak of light.

At nan aforesaid time, large booms could beryllium heard that shook buildings and had immoderate residents wondering if an earthquake had hit Manhattan.

According to NASA, nan culprit down nan startling incident was a “fireball” meteor that apt soared complete nan Statue of Liberty and westbound into New Jersey astir 11 a.m.

A fireball meteor is different word “for a very agleam meteor,” according to nan American Meteor Society. Tuesday’s ray show was, much specifically, a “daylight fireball” because it was truthful agleam it could beryllium viewed by nan naked oculus during daylight hours.

Going disconnected eyewitness accounts, NASA Meteor Watch initially reported that nan fireball was first sighted 49 miles supra nan Upper Bay of New York Harbor travelling astir 34,000 miles per hour. It past passed complete nan Statue of Liberty earlier disintegrated supra midtown Manhattan conscionable 29 miles supra New Yorkers’ heads.

In an updated assessment, NASA Meteor Watch said precocious Tuesday that it now believes nan meteor was travelling astatine 38,000 miles per hour and apt originated complete New York City earlier moving westbound into New Jersey.

Indeed, it wasn’t conscionable New Yorkers who caught a glimpse of nan fireball meteor. More than 40 people crossed nan northeastern seaboard of nan U.S. reported seeing nan fireball to nan American Meteor Society. Reports came successful from New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Two eyewitnesses, 1 successful Connecticut and 1 successful New Jersey, besides provided videos to nan American Meteor Society of what appears to beryllium nan Tuesday fireball streaking crossed nan sky.

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Notably, NASA says nan reports of large booms and shakings successful New York whitethorn not person been caused by nan fireball aft all, but possibly by nan U.S. military.

“There are reports of subject activity successful nan vicinity astir nan clip of nan fireball, which would explicate nan aggregate shakings and sounds reported to nan media,” nan abstraction agency said.

Thankfully for residents of nan northeastern U.S. seaboard, nan meteor that travelled overhead connected Tuesday was not large capable to clang into Earth. Instead, it burned up successful nan atmosphere, creating nan fireball that was visible to witnesses connected nan ground.

“(S)mall rocks for illustration nan 1 producing this fireball are only astir a ft successful diameter, incapable of surviving each nan measurement to nan ground,” NASA writes. “We do not (actually cannot) way things this mini astatine important distances from nan Earth, truthful nan only clip we cognize astir them is erstwhile they deed nan ambiance and make a meteor aliases a fireball.”

Aries Dela Cruz, an charismatic pinch New York City emergency management, wrote connected X, formerly Twitter, that nan agency “has received no reports of harm aliases injuries related to” nan fireball event.

NASA tracks and assesses nan threat of larger abstraction rocks for illustration asteroids that travel adjacent to Earth done nan Center for Near Earth Object Studies astatine nan Jet Propulsion Laboratory.