Meteor over Ohio causes large boom heard as far away as Pennsylvania

Nasa spokesperson says meteor was traveling at 45,000mph but no reports of debris found

A meteor over Ohio caused a large boom that jolted people as far away as Pennsylvania on Tuesday morning, Nasa has confirmed.

The meteor entered the atmosphere at about 9am local time on Tuesday, producing a sonic boom felt across a wide swath of northern Ohio and beyond. Reports poured in from Cleveland and other sectors as far east as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and into New York state.

Bill Cook, a Nasa spokesperson, confirmed the meteor was spotted near Medina to News5 Cleveland. “I woke up this morning, and the sky fell, so I feel like Chicken Little right now,” Cooke said.

Cooke said the meteor was moving at 45,000mph, “which is fast for a human but slow for a meteor”.

Nasa’s meteoroid environment office said the asteroid was 2m in diameter and weighed about 6 tons. Despite the weight, Nasa noted it is still considered a small asteroid.

Cleveland.com reported that Ohio residents described thinking a tree had smashed into their roof – and one said the sound was similar to fireworks that “lingered and rumbled like thunder”.

The NWS’s Cleveland office said that satellite data “does suggest that the boom was a result of a meteor”, according to a post on X.

Meanwhile, the NWS office in Pittsburgh posted a video filmed by one of its employees, showing the meteor shooting across the sky.

So far, NWS has no reports of any debris being found.

“There could be some small fragments, but a lot of it would have burned up in the atmosphere,” Brian Mitchell, an NWS meteorologist, told the Associated Press.

Nasa, the US space agency, also confirmed the reported meteor on Tuesday morning, saying that data analysis placed the first visibility of it above Lake Erie.

“The fireball – caused by a small asteroid nearly 6 feet in diameter and weighing about 7 tons – moved south-east at 45,000 mph before fragmenting over Valley City,” a Nasa post read. “The fragments continued on to the south, producing meteorites in the vicinity of Medina county, Ohio.”

Meteors are visible streaks of light also colloquially called shooting stars, which occur when meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speed and burn up. According to one study, about 17,000 meteorites fall to Earth annually.

“Most space rocks smaller than a football field will break apart in Earth’s atmosphere,” according to Nasa’s website, adding that though on very rare occasions they may explode in the air.

Quelle: The Guardian