Residents in parts of New York City and New Jersey were shaken by a loud boom Tuesday morning, with NASA officials saying it was likely due to a daylight fireball meteor.
A daylight fireball is a meteor that is bright enough to be visible during daylight hours because it’s burning brighter than the sun’s light as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, according to the American Meteor Society.
NASA’s Meteor Watch team reports that the daylight fireball was seen at 11:17 a.m. ET, according to an update shared to Facebook Tuesday afternoon.
Tracking the path of the meteor, NASA estimates that the fireball flew at an altitude of 49 miles above Upper Bay near Greenville Yard in Jersey City.
In this map released by NASA, the estimated path of a meteor is shown passing over Manhattan.
NASA
Officials report that the fireball may have flown at a rate of 34,000 miles per hour as it passed over the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
The meteor then appeared to disintegrate 29 miles above Midtown, Manhattan, according to NASA’s estimations.
Officials clarified that as of Tuesday, “this trajectory is very crude and uncertain,” saying that the estimations are based on “a few eyewitness accounts and there is no camera or satellite data currently available to refine the solution.”
No meteorites, which are fragments of meteors, were produced by this event, according to NASA.
Additionally, the agency notes that on Tuesday morning, at the time of the fireball sighting, there were reports of “military activity in the vicinity,” saying that “would explain the multiple shakings and sounds reported to the media.”
The loud noise and apparent shaking were reported from southern New Jersey to parts of Queens and Brooklyn, according to NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM).
Aries Dela Cruz, an official from NYCEM, noted that the agency “has received no reports of damage or injuries related to this event,” in a post on X Tuesday.