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.
Suspected meteor behind loud boom heard in Central Indiana, officials say 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.
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.
