A large scale explosion was felt and heard around Boston and much of central and eastern Massachussetts and Rhode Island today; scientists believe a bolide may be to blame for today’s event. The event was so large people as far away as New Jersey and Delaware reported seeing the event unfold.
Shortly after 2pm, people across the northeast reported seeing, hearing, or feeling a streaking meteor and/or sonic boom. As of press time, the American Meteor Society reports that 36 observers from New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and nearby areas in Canada observed a fireball.
NASA and NOAA have yet to confirm whether or not today’s explosion was the result of a bolide although it is the leading theory within the earth science community. USGS has not reported any earthquake activity in the northeast today. However, more than 500 people used the Volcano Discovery website to report the ground shaking from an explosion across a large part of southeastern New England this afternoon.
While USGS didn’t report an earthquake, they did log a sonic boom event. USGS released a statement saying, “This event is a widely felt sonic boom from a suspected bolide. Unlike earthquakes which occur at discrete location in the earth, sonic boom events occur along a linear path in the atmosphere. Therefore, the location provided is an approximation. While recorded on seismic sensors, traditional earthquake magnitudes are not appropriate for measuring atmospheric events. No magnitude is assigned.”…