Boom! NASA Explains Explosion With Power of 300 Tons of TNT That Rocked Residents From MA to NH

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By Bob Hoge

A huge boom was heard over parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire on Saturday, freaking out New Englanders and causing them to wonder if war had broken out or a factory had exploded.

But on Sunday, NASA explained what it really was: a sonic boom from a meteor breaking apart in our atmosphere. The phenomenon is also known as a “fireball,” and it was travelling pretty darn fast:

NASA told ABC News in a statement that the meteor, also known as a "fireball," was detected around 2:06 p.m. and was traveling at a speed of 75,000 mph.

That's a pretty big boom, as the space agency explained:

#MeteorSighting: Eyewitnesses in New England and @NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite reported a bright fireball on Saturday, May 30, at 2:06 p.m. EDT accompanied by a loud noise. The meteor appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast MA and southeast NH. The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise. 

Eyewitness accounts supplied by the American Meteor Society.

It scared this poor doggie:

This user claims to have caught the fireball on camera:

We live in suburban Los Angeles, and I leave my office door open to catch the breeze and enjoy the balmy climate. We regularly hear booms, because that’s life in the big city. They could be cars backfiring, folks blasting off fireworks (they love their fireworks out here), or, possibly, something more sinister. My wife and I regularly look at each other and say, “That wasn’t gunfire, was it?” 

Thankfully, there haven't been any shooting incidents in our neck of the woods, but I can’t lie, I’d be a little nervous if I heard this outside my door:

It’s another reminder that the solar system — and the universe — are much bigger and more powerful than Li'l Old Mankind, and we’re just lucky to live here on earth at their mercy.

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