Zoe Mckey, Staff Writer
On Tuesday, a meteor traveling at 34,000 miles per hour streaked over New York Harbor, incinerating itself above the city. New Yorkers and residents of nearby states reported feeling a rumble and hearing a loud boom as the fireball disintegrated 29 miles above Manhattan. NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office and the US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center investigated the incident, initially attributing the shaking and sounds to the meteor. However, NASA also noted the presence of military activity in the area, suggesting an alternative explanation.
Despite NASA’s caution, the Pentagon stated that no military sensors detected anything unusual. Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office explained that the fireball was first sighted near Greenville Yard and descended at a steep angle, moving at high speed. While there were numerous eyewitness reports of the fireball, the USGS found no seismic evidence of an earthquake. NASA emphasized that their findings were preliminary and based on limited eyewitness accounts, with no meteorite impacts reported from the event.
