On Tuesday morning, a bright fireball streaked across the sky over Cleveland, Ohio. The suspected meteor appeared at 9:00 a.m. in broad daylight. It produced a loud sonic boom that shook homes and startled residents. Some people compared the sound to a powerful explosion. The spectacular event was visible across several states, from Wisconsin to Maryland.
Astronomer Carl Hergenrother confirmed that the object was a small asteroid. He estimated it was roughly the size of a softball or basketball. It struck the atmosphere traveling at many tens of miles per second. Despite its dramatic appearance, no physical debris has been found on the ground. A meteorologist said small fragments could exist, but most of it burned up.
Surprisingly, meteors like this one fall somewhere in the United States about once daily. Smaller pieces of space dust enter the atmosphere even more frequently. Scientists say this happens roughly ten times every single hour. However, most of these events go completely unnoticed by the general public. This particular fireball was unusual because it appeared during daytime hours.
In the past, scientists relied on special night-sky cameras to track meteors. Today, cellphones and home security cameras have changed everything dramatically. Ordinary people now capture and share footage of these astronomical events regularly. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh even shared video from one employee. If more people had been looking up, even more footage would have been recorded.