Residents of parts of New York City and New Jersey were shocked Tuesday morning, and NASA officials said it was likely caused by a meteor in broad daylight.
A daytime fireball is a meteor that is bright enough to be visible during daylight hours because it burns brighter than sunlight as it enters Earth’s atmosphere, according to American Meteorite Society.
NASA’s meteor monitoring team reported that the daytime fireball was spotted at 11:17 a.m. ET, according to an update shared with Facebook Tuesday evening.
Tracking the meteor’s path, NASA estimates the fireball flew 49 miles above the Upper Bay near Greenville Square in Jersey City.
This map released by NASA shows the projected path of a meteor passing over Manhattan.
NASA
Officials said the fireball may have traveled at 34,000 miles per hour as it passed over the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
The meteor then appeared to disintegrate 29 miles above Midtown Manhattan, according to NASA estimates.
Officials explained that as of Tuesday, “this path was very crude and uncertain,” saying the estimates were based on “a few eyewitness accounts and no camera or satellite data is currently available to refine the solution.”
The event did not produce any meteors, which are fragments of meteorites, according to NASA.
The agency also noted that on Tuesday morning, at the time of the fireball sighting, there were reports of “military activity in the vicinity,” saying that “would explain the multiple tremors and sounds reported to the media.”
Loud noises and visible shaking were reported from southern New Jersey to parts of Queens and Brooklyn, according to New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM).
Aris Dela Cruz, a New York City City Hall official, said in a Facebook post that the agency had “received no reports of damage or injuries related to this event.” X Tuesday.