A sonic boom that left people across New England looking to the sky was likely a meteor, according to meteorologists.
On Saturday afternoon, police departments in Massachusetts began receiving calls of a loud boom coming from the sky.
The source of the sound was likely a meteor or a bolide, which is a meteor that explodes in the Earth's atmosphere, according to NBC 10 meteorologist Pamela Gardner.
"Big explosion/boom around Boston," she wrote on X. "GLM from GOES 19 shows possible meteor or bolide entering the atmosphere. There is no lightning in this current storm, no earthquake from USGS."
WBZ-TV Chief Meteorologist Eric Fisher is also attributing the sound to a meteor.
He pointed to satellite data mapping lightning in the atmosphere.
"Basically, when [a meteor] enters the atmosphere and explodes, it shows up as lightning," he said in an Instragram video explaining the incident. "So in our lightning mapper … you can see exactly where that came in."
The American Meteorological Society explained on its website how meteors cause sonic booms.
"Friction with Earth's air causes them to begin vaporizing, leaving a bright streak across our sky. Meteors can zip through the air at 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour (11 to 72 km per second)," the organization said on its website. "They can penetrate deeply enough into the atmosphere to produce pressure waves and, thus, sonic booms."
Wrentham Police Chief Bill McGrath said the boom was heard throughout New England.
"The explosion was heard and felt throughout New England, shaking homes and causing many people to be justifiably concerned," McGrath said. "We have no reports of damage or injuries in Wrentham and haven’t heard of any injuries in the region."
Some Facebook users reportedly said they felt their homes shake during the rumble.
It’s not clear if the meteor actually continue down to Earth or if it was completely destroyed in the atmosphere.
A similar sonic boom was heard on Thursday in the Carolinas, according to WIS. The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed it was not an earthquake, but the origin of that boom has not been confirmed as of this report.
