Fireball streaking across sky at 38,000 mph caused loud boom that shook NY, NJ, NASA says

Residents in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were shaken by a loud boom this week, leaving them confused over what was happening in the area. Some residents even witnessed a cosmic occurrence in the sky adding to the curiosity and confusion.

"Folks from the Jersey Shore to the West Side of Manhattan reported hearing a sonic boom about 1 hour ago," NYC Councilman Justin Brannan wrote in a post on Facebook Tuesday morning. "I personally spoke with NYC Emergency Management and there is nothing on their radar. USGS says no earthquake. Some say maybe a meteor?"

NASA estimates meteor originated over NYC

Turns out the source of the loud boom and explosion-like sound was a daylight fireball over New York City around 11:17 a.m. on Tuesday, according to NASA Meteor Watch.

More than 40 people from Wilmington, Delaware to Newport, Rhode Island, reported seeing the fireball to the American Meteor Society, with some even posting videos of the fireball flashing across the sky.

NASA Meteor Watch said the meteor originated over New York City and moved west towards New Jersey at a speed of 38,000 miles per hour, based on the eyewitness reports. However, NASA stressed that it is important to note that the trajectory was "very crude and uncertain," given that there was "no camera or satellite data" available to "refine the solution."

Earlier, the space body had said that they "estimate that the fireball was first sighted at an altitude of 49 miles above Upper Bay (east of Greenville Yard)," close to Jersey City after which it moved east at 34,000 miles per hour.

It then descended at a steep angle and passed over the Statue of Liberty before "disintegrating 29 miles above Manhattan," the post added. No meteorites were produced by this event, NASA said.

NASA does not track small rocks

NASA also said that contrary to popular belief, the agency does not track everything in space, though they do keep "track of rack of asteroids that are capable of posing a danger to us Earth dwellers." It added that small rocks "like the one producing this fireball are only about a foot in diameter, incapable of surviving all the way to the ground," and that they do not and cannot track things "this small at significant distances from the Earth."

"The only time we know about them is when they hit the atmosphere and generate a meteor or a fireball," NASA Meteor Watch added.

Military activity

The space body added that military activity was also reported in the area "around the time of the fireball, which would explain the multiple shakings and sounds reported to the media."

However, a Pentagon spokesperson told NBC New York that they were not tracking anything that could be responsible for the reports. The FAA, meanwhile, told the media outlet that only a military aircraft could produce such a sonic boom and referred NBC to the military.

No earthquakes recorded

The United States Geological Survey did not record any earthquakes in the area around the time, dismissing all speculation that the shaking was caused by an earthquake. USGS, in a statement to USA TODAY said that shaking in northeast New Jersey and Staten Island was reported but "an examination of the seismic data in the area showed no evidence of an earthquake."

"The USGS has no direct evidence of the source of the shaking," the statement said. "Past reports of shaking with no associated seismic signal have had atmospheric origins such as sonic booms or weather-related phenomena."

An official of the NYC Emergency Management, Aries Dela Cruz, in a post on X, said that no damage or injuries related to the incident were reported.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.