NEW YORK (WABC) — Could a meteor be the cause of a loud bang heard in parts of New York City and northern New Jersey?
New York City officials began checking reports of a loud noise heard Tuesday morning in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. There were also similar reports in New Jersey.
The New York City Department of Emergency Management received an update from NASA, which estimated that a meteor entered the atmosphere and disintegrated over the New York City metropolitan area earlier on Tuesday.
Preliminary analysis indicates the meteor flew over the Statue of Liberty before disintegrating high above Midtown Manhattan. No meteorites were produced by the event.
According to Emergency Management, no reports of damage or injuries have been received as a result of this incident.
The American Meteor Society of amateur spotters recorded a maximum of 20 possible sightings between 11:16 and 11:20 a.m.
Lee Goldberg has the latest on the loud bang.
“Based on these data, we estimate that the fireball was first observed at an altitude of 49 miles above the Upper Bay (east of Greenville Yard). The meteor was moving slightly east of north at 34,000 miles per hour and descended at a steep 18-degree angle from vertical, passing the Statue of Liberty before disintegrating 29 miles above Midtown Manhattan,” said Bill Cooke, director of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office.
Chief meteorologist Lee Goldberg said the heat and high temperatures may have caused the sound to travel.
There was a small inversion — where temperature increases with height — on Tuesday morning, which may have helped the sound travel farther. Sound waves do travel faster in warm air than in cold air, which can make sounds louder.
Air molecules at a higher temperature have more energy and vibrate faster, allowing sound waves to travel faster.
The USGS issued a statement saying there was no evidence of an earthquake despite the shaking felt by many people in the area:
“The USGS National Earthquake Information Center received reports of tremors in northeastern New Jersey and Staten Island, New York. A review of seismic data in the area showed no evidence of an earthquake. The USGS has no direct evidence of the source of the tremor. Previous reports of tremors without an associated seismic signal have been attributed to atmospheric sources such as sonic booms or weather-related phenomena.”
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