Sonic booms and blinding flash as meteor explodes in northeast US

A rare daytime meteor exploded over New England on Saturday, producing a blinding flash and powerful sonic booms that rattled homes across parts of the northeastern US and Canada. As per Nasa, the object was a natural meteoroid about one metre in diameter travelling at 1,20,701kmh. It entered the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded about 64km above Massachusetts-New Hampshire border.

The airburst released ener­gy equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, creating shock waves shaking windows and buildings from Boston area to Montreal. Residents initially mistook the loud booms and ground vibrations for a quake.

The US Geological Survey ruled out any seismic activity, confirming the tremors were caused by atmospheric shock waves generated by the meteor’s explosion. Nasa said the object was not linked to any annual meteor shower and was not artificial space debris or a decaying satellite.

The event was also detected by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites, which recorded the meteor's airburst from space.

No injuries or property damage were reported. Most of the material burned up in the atmosphere, while any remaining fragments were believed to have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean.