Overview
- The loud double sonic boom and house vibrations reported across New England and as far as Montreal came from a daytime fireball that exploded in the atmosphere over Cape Cod Bay on Saturday, May 30.
- NASA’s reconstruction measured the object at about 1.52 meters wide with a mass comparable to an elephant, an entry speed near 67,600 km/h, a 41.8-kilometer atmospheric path, and an energy release of roughly 230 tons of TNT.
- NASA said the object was natural rock and not a satellite or space debris, and the breakup occurred at high altitude so the main body did not reach the ground.
- The U.S. Geological Survey recorded no earthquake signals, which supports the conclusion that the ground tremors people felt were caused by the atmospheric explosion rather than seismic activity.
- Citizen reports collected by observer networks helped locate the event, there are no reports of casualties or major damage, and agencies continue routine analysis while stressing that small atmospheric entries are relatively common.