A significant explosion was felt by a vast number of individuals in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania on a Tuesday morning. The incident led to a surge in 911 calls reporting what residents described as an earthquake-like explosion. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pittsburgh received accounts of a loud boom and a fireball in the sky, suggesting from satellite data that it may have been a meteor entering the atmosphere.
Meteorologist Brian Mitchell from the NWS stated that the meteor likely disintegrated in the atmosphere, as no impact sound was detected. The American Meteor Society received over 100 reports of the meteor sighting from various locations including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Canada.
An eyewitness from Cincinnati, Ohio, named Alec H. mentioned seeing the meteor without hearing the accompanying boom, likening the experience to a video of a Russian meteor without the explosive sound. While the NWS linked the loud boom in Cleveland to the meteor, the American Meteor Society has yet to comment on the event.
The Cleveland NWS shared a photo captured by a Geostationary Lightning Mapper showing a green flash over the city, further confirming the meteor’s impact. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explained that Geostationary Lightning Mappers can detect bright meteors resembling lightning flashes.
The administration detailed that the instrument captures 500 images per second, allowing precise measurements of a meteor’s light curve. It mentioned that loud booms from meteors entering the atmosphere can cause anxiety, with the NWS using GLM data to confirm such events swiftly.
Observing meteors during daylight is rare due to sunlight masking most meteor entries. A video from the Olmsted Falls bus garage in Cleveland’s suburbs captured the meteor streaking across the sky. Additional meteor sightings have occurred in Ohio recently, including one caught on a doorbell camera in mid-February and another fireball sighting in March.
Residents reported feeling the boom as far as New York and Pennsylvania, with the NWS attributing the event to a meteor based on satellite images. NASA clarified that meteors, also known as fireballs or shooting stars, form when meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds and burn up.
Pittsburgh’s NWS also confirmed the meteor event, receiving reports of the loud boom and fireball across western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. The incident occurred around 9 am EDT on a Tuesday morning.
To stay updated on the latest news, make us your Preferred Source in Google Search settings or activate our headlines for priority visibility. Sign up for email updates featuring the day’s top stories.