A meteor exploded off the coast of Boston with the force of 300 tons of TNT
The boom could be heard across several states and shook houses.
The boom could be heard across several states and shook houses.
by May 31, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC
Terrence O’Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget.
On Saturday, at around 2:06 pm ET, a meteor streaked over the northeastern US and exploded north of Cape Cod Bay. The fireball was caught on camera by several people, shook houses, and can even be seen clearly in satellite imagery, lighting up the sky.
Some residents initially thought that the shaking and boom may have been an earthquake, but the United States Geological Survey (USGS) denied that, saying that it was a “widely felt sonic boom from a suspected bolide.” In a statement posted on X, NASA described the event as a “bright fireball… accompanied by a loud noise.”
The meteor was traveling at roughly 75,000 miles per hour when, according to NASA, it “appears 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’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren also told AFP in a statement that, “This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite.”
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