Suspected Meteor Causes Sonic Boom Over Cleveland, Visible Across Multiple States

A suspected meteor exploded over Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday morning, producing a sonic boom felt by residents and visible across several states.

The event occurred around 9 a.m., shaking homes and startling residents who reported hearing a loud boom comparable to an explosion. The American Meteor Society received reports from as far as Wisconsin and Maryland, indicating the fireball's extensive visibility.

"This one really does look like it's a fireball, which means it's a meteorite—a small asteroid," said astronomer Carl Hergenrother, the group's executive director.

He estimated the meteor's size to be between that of a softball and a basketball, traveling at "many tens of miles per second" before disintegrating in the atmosphere.

Staff at the National Weather Service in Cleveland also experienced the boom and vibrations, suspecting a meteor as the cause. Meteorologist Brian Mitchell noted that while some small fragments might have reached the ground, much of the meteor would have burned up in the atmosphere.

"There could be some small fragments, but a lot of it would have burned up in the atmosphere," Mitchell said.

Meteors of this magnitude are relatively rare, with smaller space debris entering Earth's atmosphere more frequently. Advances in technology have enabled more public sightings, as individuals capture such events on cellphones and security cameras.

"Now we're seeing them, and there's dozens of videos popping up all the time," Hergenrother added.