The fireball broke apart over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire at around 2:06 p.m. local time (1806 GMT), releasing an energy burst equivalent to 300 tons of TNT and producing loud sonic booms that were heard across the region.
NASA said the object disintegrated at an altitude of about 40 miles while travelling at extremely high speed before it broke apart in the atmosphere.
The explosion generated powerful shockwaves that rattled homes and startled residents across parts of New England, with many initially unsure of the source of the noise.
According to NASA, the meteor was moving at more than 120,000 kilometres per hour (around 75,000 miles per hour) before it fragmented.
NASA deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren confirmed the event in a statement, saying the fireball was not linked to any active meteor shower and was not caused by space debris or a satellite re-entry.
“This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said.
Residents across Massachusetts and New Hampshire reported hearing sudden, thunder-like booms that caused confusion and briefly sparked concern over a possible explosion or aircraft incident.
Authorities later confirmed the phenomenon as a natural meteor event after NASA’s assessment.
Scientists explain that such explosions occur when meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, creating intense air pressure that causes the object to break apart and release energy in a sudden burst.
In this case, the rapid fragmentation produced the sonic booms heard across the region.
NASA noted that while the event was significant enough to be widely felt, it was far smaller than major historical incidents such as the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor explosion in Russia.
That event involved a much larger space rock that detonated at a lower altitude and caused widespread structural damage and injuries, mostly from shattered glass.
Saturday’s meteor, while dramatic, caused no reported injuries or damage, but it highlighted how even relatively small space objects can produce powerful atmospheric shockwaves when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.
