A strange object that zipped through the sky across New York at ‘34,000’ miles per hour leaves locals wondering what they were witnessing, with NASA stepping in to provide an explanation
New York residents were left bewildered as a large flash of light zipped through the sky followed by vibrations being felt under foot across large parts of the state.
The giant rock from space somehow made its way into the Earth’s atmosphere leaving those at ground level wondering exactly what was going on.
Before long the authorities across the state began to get to inundated with reports with some suggesting that the meteor could have even been as low 49 miles above them.
NASA Meteor Watch said: “Based on this data, we estimate that the fireball was first sighted at an altitude of 49 miles above Upper Bay (east of Greenville Yard). Moving a bit east of North at 34,000 miles per hour, the meteor descended at a steep angle of just 18 degrees from vertical, passing over the Statue of Liberty before disintegrating 29 miles above midtown Manhattan.”
With speculation rife across the city as locals were trying to make out exactly what they were witnessing, the NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM) executive director of public information, Aries Dela Cruz, tried to clear things up.
In a post on X he wrote: “NASA has estimated that a meteor entered the atmosphere and disintegrated above the New York City metropolitan area earlier today. Preliminary analysis indicates the meteor passed over the Statue of Liberty before fragmenting high above midtown Manhattan.”
In a further post he added: “Emergency Management has received no reports of damage or injuries related to this event. Monitoring of the situation and communication with our partner agencies continues. For life safety concerns please call 911, 311 for non-emergencies.”
Robert Lunsford, the American Meteor Society’s fireball report coordinator told the City media outlet that the meteor was “probably about the size of a beach ball”.
