Overview
- The meteor entered the atmosphere and exploded at about 2:06 p.m. Saturday, producing a bright daytime fireball and powerful double booms that were heard and felt across eastern Massachusetts and neighboring states.
- NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite recorded a distinctive GLM flash at the same time and dozens of eyewitness reports were collected by the American Meteor Society, helping scientists pinpoint the event.
- NASA confirmed the object was a natural bolide, not space debris, that fragmented roughly 40 miles above the surface and released energy estimated near 300 tons of TNT.
- The U.S. Geological Survey found no earthquake activity and described the noise as a widely felt sonic boom, and state and local agencies reported no known injuries or structural damage.
- NASA and other agencies say surviving fragments likely fell into roughly 100-foot-deep Cape Cod Bay, making recovery unlikely, and scientists are using satellite and eyewitness data to reconstruct the trajectory.