Video: Meteor Explodes Over US With Force Equal To 300 Tonnes Of TNT, NASA Confirms

A large meteor streaked through the sky of Massachusetts, US, on Saturday and exploded with the energy of roughly 300 tonnes of TNT, according to NASA and other monitoring data. The space rock entered Earth's atmosphere at high speed, heating up and glowing brightly as it broke apart. The explosion released an intense flash of light and set off booms that echoed across the region. Users, especially those who live in Boston, flooded the social media platforms with reports of the explosion. Some users claimed that the sound was so powerful that houses were shaking.

Scientists track these events using sensors designed to detect atmospheric explosions. The readings showed the meteor's energy release was comparable to several hundred tonnes of conventional explosives, though it occurred miles above the ground, so there was no impact damage. Most meteors burn up completely before reaching the surface. When one of these sizes explodes, it creates a loud boom and a fireball, often mistaken for lightning by people on the ground.

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Hear the sonic boom sound:

Meteoro atingiu Massachusetts hoje a tarde! Eu ouvi o estrondo super alto e achei que fosse um trovão mais alto e demorado!
☄️ cool pic.twitter.com/q5ZjLcuoY5

— Carol (@carolhaany) May 31, 2026

"This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite," Jennifer Dooren, who is the US space agency's deputy news chief, told news agency in AFP in a statement. "The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms."

Meteor Over Boston, Massachusetts and Rhode Island pic.twitter.com/b1Up38v9bs

— Moon (@moondailys) May 30, 2026

🚨🇺🇸#BREAKING | NEWS ⚠️
Part two update someone has captured the 3 foot wide meteor that came crashing down near Massachusetts and New Hampshire border causing the large sonic boom that thousands of people felt and heard in Boston as well.

There are no reports of damage at this… pic.twitter.com/wNqtrwPhvy

— Todd Paron🇺🇸🇬🇷🎧👽 (@tparon) May 31, 2026

Reports of an explosion heard across the Boston area were likely caused by a large bolide (meteor) entering the atmosphere. A significant flash was detected by the GOES-19 satellite and does not appear to be associated with thunderstorm activity.

https://t.co/qWfq2yC80i https://t.co/a9wkwap78X

— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) May 30, 2026

According to Dooren, the meteor was travelling at 75,000 miles per hour (more than 120,000 km/h) at an altitude of 40 miles when it exploded.

#MeteorSighting: Eyewitnesses in New England and @NOAA's GOES-19 satellite reported a bright fireball on Saturday, May 30, at 2:06 p.m EDT accompanied by a loud noise. The meteor appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast MA and southeast NH. The energy…

— NASA Space Alerts (@NASASpaceAlerts) May 30, 2026

Nick Stewart, who is a spaceflight meteorologist, wrote on X, "Reports of an explosion hears around Boston I believe are going to be a rather significant bolide/meteor entering the atmosphere. Very large 'flash' detected by GOES-19 GLM that does not correlate with active thunderstorms." 

In a follow-up post, he added, "The flash density product really shows this anomalous 'flash' which is pretty distinctive of a bolide/meteor reentry. east of Boston. This is the likely source of the loud boom/explosion."
 

The flash density product really shows this anomalous "flash" which is pretty distinctive of a bolide/meteor reentry. east of Boston. This is the likely source of the loud boom/explosion. pic.twitter.com/ka5b9KfiQ7

— Nick Stewart (@NStewWX) May 30, 2026

In a post on X, NASA Space Alerts wrote, "Eyewitnesses in New England and @NOAA's GOES-19 satellite reported a bright fireball on Saturday, May 30, at 2:06 p.m EDT accompanied by a loud noise."

"The meteor appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast MA and southeast NH. The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise," it added.

According to the United States Geological Survey, it was a "widely felt sonic boom from a suspected bolide". "Unlike earthquakes which occur at discrete location in the earth, sonic boom events occur along a linear path in the atmosphere," it added.