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NASA let people know over the weekend that the cause of the
commotion was a meteor, but on Monday they revealed even more
stunning details.
The fireball was as heavy as an elephant and 5 feet (1.52 meter)
wide and was going 42,000 mph (67,592.5 kph) when it entered
Earth’s atmosphere. It broke up miles above New England on
Saturday and the energy released was equivalent to about 230
tons of TNT, the agency estimated, accounting for the booms.
NASA revealed the jaw-dropping details in a social media post
Monday along with other statistics.
The meteor was made up of natural material — not a satellite or
space debris — and traveled through the atmosphere for about 26
miles (41.8 kilometers), according to NASA, before falling into
Cape Cod Bay, which sits along southeastern Massachusetts.
The agency was quick to point out that meteors are very common,
but typically don't have as big of an audience as this one.
“They often occur over the ocean or unpopulated areas with no
witnesses, or during the daytime, making them difficult to
spot,” according to NASA.
The event prompted widespread speculation initially.
The rattling boom had some people in Massachusetts and Rhode
Island thinking there had been an earthquake or that a tree had
fallen. Others posted that their dogs were freaking out. At
least one person posed the possibility of aliens.
A man in Peabody, Massachusetts, posted that it had been a windy
day, so he thought a large tree had hit his house. When he came
outside, he said, he found most of his neighbors in the street
asking the same questions.
Several people filed reports with the U.S. Geological Survey,
registering the shaking they felt with the National Earthquake
Information Center, Steve Sobie, an agency spokesman, confirmed.
The agency opened an event page, based on the number of “Did you
feel it?” reports it received on its website. But Sobie said
there was no event registered on the agency’s seismographs.
meaning the shaking was not due to an earthquake.
The American Meteor Society received dozens of reports from
Delaware to Montreal with people either hearing the double boom,
feeling the ground shake or seeing the fireball, its program
monitor, Robert Lunsford, said.
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