If you saw a bright flash or heard a loud boom St. Patrick’s Day morning, you were not imagining things. NASA confirmed a small asteroid, about 6-feet wide and weighing roughly 7 tons, lit up the sky over northeast Ohio just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
The space rock was traveling at nearly 45,000 miles per hour as it entered Earth’s atmosphere, first becoming visible about 50 miles above Lake Erie near Lorain. It then streaked southeast before breaking apart over Valley City in Medina County.
The explosion created a powerful shockwave, with reports of a sonic boom heard across multiple states, even picked up on seismic monitors!
Fragments continued falling south, meaning meteorites could be scattered in parts of Medina County. So far, no injuries or confirmed finds have been reported.
The rare daytime fireball was visible across a wide stretch of the region, from Ohio to Pennsylvania and beyond.
You can watch video of the moment on our Facebook page sent to 330ToGo: WATCH OHIO METEOR HERE!
