NASA Says Giant Meteor Crashed in Southern Texas After Residents Report Loud Explosion

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A giant meteor weighing 1,000 pounds crashed into Southern Texas on Feb. 15 shortly after locals reported hearing a large explosion and something falling out of the sky, officials have said.

The meteor was about two feet in diameter and broke into tiny pieces after burning up just before hitting the earth on Wednesday evening, according to a preliminary report by NASA.

So far, there have been no reports of any injuries or property damage after the meteor fell to the earth near McAllen, Texas, at about 6 p.m., NASA said.

Before hitting the ground, the meteor had been traveling at a speed of about 27,000 mph and had an energy equivalent of around eight tons of TNT.

“The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls,” NASA said in a report. “Radar and other data indicate that meteorites did reach the ground from this event.”

No Risk to Public

“Although meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public,” the space administration added.

NASA added that any individuals who may have found fragments of the meteor should contact the Smithsonian Institution, which curates a collection of meteorites found in the United States and studies them to get a better understanding of the origin and evolution of our solar system.

According to Science.org, tens of thousands of meteorites break through Earth’s atmosphere each year, of which over 60,000 have been found and classified by scientists.

“The meteor seen in the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the need for NASA and other organizations to increase our understanding and protection of Earth, to combine scientific and engineering expertise to advance human space exploration, to integrate terrestrial and planetary research for furthering our understanding of the solar system, and to promote successful space missions by mitigating risk,” NASA said.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Brownsville said it used a tool called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) to pinpoint a flash of light in the atmosphere from the shooting star’s explosion at around 5:23 p.m. on Wednesday.

NWS added that there was no thunderstorm activity in the area when the meteor hit.

“Although we are not 100 percent confident it was a meteorite, we’ve received multiple reports of meteor/meteorite sightings around the McAllen area,” NWS said.

Residents Hear Loud ‘Boom’

Video footage taken from a home security camera was published by Fox News’s KDFW and showed the moment the meteor hit. It appeared to show birds abruptly fleeing after what sounded like a sonic boom that made the camera shake slightly.

The incident prompted multiple concerned local residents to contact law enforcement, the Alton Police Department said in a statement.

“This afternoon our communications center received multiple calls regarding what sounded like a loud explosion heard throughout the City after 5 p.m., Police wrote. ”We learned that several neighboring jurisdictions were receiving similar calls and also investigating the matter.”

Elsewhere, Mission Police Department Chief of Police Cesar Torres told reporters at a news conference on Thursday that police had received hundreds of calls from panicked residents who had described seeing or hearing a large explosion or a “boom” and homes that were “shaking” after the meteor hit.

The meteor sighting came shortly after a number of objects were discovered traversing through U.S. airspace in recent weeks, prompting the government to shoot them down.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra noted at Thursday’s press conference that Americans were on heightened alert following the discovery of the recent objects, one of which has been identified as a Chinese surveillance balloon, flying over the country.

“Obviously with all these incidents close, you can imagine what our constituents’ and our citizens’ fears were,” Guerra said.