On Thursday afternoon of last week, Central New York was witness to a boom of mysterious origin. Reports indicated that houses shook, windows rattled, and more than a few residents were somewhat confused. According to experts who investigated the event, the loud explosive sound was most likely caused by—a meteor.
When the boom was initially heard, Central New York residents instantly dialed 911 and reported the mysterious occurrence. Others chose to take to their social media, showing more than a little concern and worry.
Roger Misso, a former congressional candidate, took to Twitter: “Just felt an explosion that rattled our entire house in Syracuse. I hope everyone is safe.”
Another Twitter user asked: “Anyone else in Syracuse just hear a big boom and feel their house shake? I’m seeing multiple different explosion reports.”
According to Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society, the presumed sound of an explosion reported to have been heard in Onondaga County and beyond is now confirmed to have been a sonic boom from a meteor. Lunsford stated that it was common for such loud booming sounds to occur when meteors rip through the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Reported tremors from the event were felt in Onondaga County to as far as 40 miles away in Oswego County, and even further in Madison and Oneida counties, according to a Thursday report by Syracuse.com.
A sudden bright flash over Niagara was caught on video by a camera located on the CN Tower in Toronto, according to a post on Twitter. The post was later taken down and redacted. It seems that what was caught on the camera wasn’t a fireball but rather termed “a weird camera brightness readjustment.” The poster apologized for the misinterpretation
However, several were able to the source of the loud explosion as the fireball streaked across the morning sky. Those videos have been shared all over social media. The fireball was reported to have been seen in those areas such as the Empire State, Maryland, and even parts of Canada.
One expert stated that most meteors will usually burn up while still in the upper atmosphere, never reaching this far down to earth. The same expert quipped: “This must be a big one.” It is expected that the meteor had to be massive in size for it to be able to make it down to Earth.
Do you think there may be more meteors such as this to come?