New England double boom mystery solved as experts confirm meteor fireball

A mysterious double boom that rattled homes and sent pets scattering across New England last weekend has been definitively identified as a meteor, with NASA revealing astonishing details about the celestial event. Initial social media queries of "Did anyone else hear that boom?" and "Anyone feel that?" quickly gave way to official explanations after widespread public confusion.

The fireball, described by NASA in a social media post on Monday, was an impressive 1.52 metres wide and weighed as much as an elephant.

It hurtled into Earth’s atmosphere at a staggering 67,592.5 kph before disintegrating miles above New England on Saturday. The energy unleashed by its breakup was equivalent to approximately 230 tons of TNT, the agency estimated, accounting for the powerful sonic booms heard across the region.

NASA confirmed the object was natural material, not a satellite or space debris, and travelled about 41.8 kilometres through the atmosphere before its remnants likely fell into Cape Cod Bay, which sits along southeastern Massachusetts.

Before NASA's clarification, the event sparked widespread speculation and concern. Residents in Massachusetts and Rhode Island initially suspected an earthquake or a falling tree, while others posted that their dogs were reacting frantically. At least one person even jokingly posited the possibility of aliens. A man in Peabody, Massachusetts, recounted believing a large tree had struck his house due to the windy conditions, only to find most of his neighbours outside, equally perplexed and asking the same questions.

Several people filed reports with the US Geological Survey, registering the shaking they felt with its National Earthquake Information Centre. Agency spokesman Steve Sobie confirmed that the USGS even opened an event page based on the number of "Did you feel it?" reports received on its website.

However, Sobie added that no event was registered on the agency’s seismographs, meaning the shaking was not due to an earthquake. NASA was keen to highlight that meteors are very common occurrences, though they rarely garner such a large audience, often breaking up over oceans or unpopulated areas, or during daylight hours, making them difficult to observe.

The American Meteor Society also received dozens of reports, stretching from Delaware to Montreal, from individuals who either heard the double boom, felt the ground shake, or witnessed the fireball, according to its programme monitor, Robert Lunsford.