"Officials from the National Weather Service have since confirmed that the booms were likely a "result of a meteor," a fireball that broke the sound barrier as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. A map built using data from NASA's Geostationary Lightning Mapper showed the location of the significant flare-up."
"Meteoroids are rocks that travel through space. Once they hit the Earth's atmosphere, they heat up and turn into meteors, often erroneously referred to as "shooting stars." Once they hit the ground and cool down, they become meteorites."
"Our planet's atmosphere protects us from an estimated 97,000 pounds of meteoritic material in just a single day. Most of the material vaporizes as it heats up, while small remaining amounts can survive the ordeal and plummet down to the surface."
Cleveland residents heard unexplained loud booms and rumbling sounds on Tuesday morning around 9 am Eastern time. The National Weather Service confirmed the sounds resulted from a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere and breaking the sound barrier. NASA's Geostationary Lightning Mapper tracked the event, and video footage captured the meteor illuminating the sky. Meteoroids are space rocks that become meteors upon atmospheric entry and meteorites after landing. Earth's atmosphere protects the planet from approximately 97,000 pounds of meteoritic material daily, with most material vaporizing during entry. Despite resident concerns, the probability of being struck by a meteorite remains extremely low.
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