NASA Confirms What Caused That Massive Boom Across New England

For a few hours on Saturday afternoon, it felt like all of New England was asking the same question:

"Did you hear that?"  TBH, I did not.  I was at the gym with my headphones watching Lioness on my phone as I walked on the treadmill.

According to WMUR, people across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and even parts of Maine reported hearing a loud boom, feeling their homes shake, and watching social media fill up with theories about what just happened.

At first, people wondered if it was thunder, an earthquake, an explosion, or even military activity.

The answer was much cooler.

NASA has confirmed a meteor traveling roughly 75,000 miles per hour exploded high above northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire around 2:06 p.m. Saturday. The meteor fragmented about 40 miles above the ground, creating a shock wave powerful enough to rattle windows and shake homes across much of New England. This is the crazy part... the energy released was estimated to be equal to about 300 tons of TNT.

What's wild is that this wasn't some tiny shooting star.

The American Meteor Society estimates the meteor was roughly three feet wide before it entered Earth's atmosphere. People reported seeing a bright daytime fireball streak across the sky from locations stretching from Delaware all the way to Montreal.

NASA now believes the meteorite fragments likely fell into Cape Cod Bay. In fact, the agency says this wasn't just a fireball, it actually produced a meteorite fall. The problem is that any surviving pieces are now sitting roughly 100 feet underwater, making recovery unlikely.

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Honestly, if you had told me Saturday morning that New England's biggest conversation by dinner time would be a meteor exploding over Massachusetts, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

But that's exactly what happened. Ironically I ended up watching "Armageddon" at the gym on Sunday afternoon.

So if your dog started barking, your windows rattled, or you immediately checked Facebook to see if anyone else heard the boom... you're definitely not alone.