A 17,000-Pound Meteor Traveling 44,000 MPH Just Exploded Over Ohio

Tens of thousands of people across the Northeast heard it. Homes shook, and for a few seconds, a fireball lit up the morning sky above Lake Erie. Now NASA has confirmed what it was.

A 6-foot, 17,000-pound meteor traveling at roughly 44,000 miles per hour entered Earth's atmosphere over northeastern Ohio Tuesday morning, triggering a series of sonic booms that rattled homes and businesses across the region and sent residents scrambling for answers.

NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office confirmed the event at approximately 8:57 am ET, placing the meteor's entry point about 50 miles above Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio. The object traveled more than 34 miles through the upper atmosphere on a north-to-south trajectory before fragmenting over Valley City, Ohio.

When it broke apart, it unleashed energy equivalent to 250 tons of TNT, NASA said, generating a pressure wave that radiated outward across a huge swath of the region. Reports of the boom and accompanying shaking came in from northeast Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and even parts of Ontario, Canada.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh captured the fireball on camera, and footage from the Olmsted Falls City Schools school bus garage in Ohio also showed a bright streak of light tearing across the sky.