HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - Numerous reports came in all across the area this morning of a ‘boom’ and ground shaking. The most likely cause is a fireball, or very large meteor and we have new video just sent to WHSV. This video is from Sandra Dickerson in West Virginia. Watch for the flashes at the beginning and then a second flash at 7 seconds.
Power outages were also reported in Hardy county.
Initial reports came in as a possible explosion in Shenandoah county but no explosion was found. Suspicions then turned to a possible earthquake. Dozens of earthquake reports were sent to Volcanodiscovery.com however an earthquake was not reported by the USGS.
Satellite data did pick up on lightning flashes over Hardy county around 10:30 a.m. and there were no storms in the area.
It is now suspected this may have been a meteor strike. This is unconfirmed at this time.
Chief Meteorologist Aubrey Urbanowicz spoke with NASA Meteoroid Environment Program Manager Bill Cooke. Cooke says daytime meteor events area very rare and they depend on eyewitness reports and meteor cameras.
The problem with eyewitness reports this morning was that it was very cloudy and viewing was obscured. With meteor cameras, they are turned off during the daytime hours to protect the cameras from the sunlight.
Cooke researched the data from this morning and says that the brightness of the meteor would likely be about as bright as the moon. (Brightness not size).
According to Cooke, “This corresponds to an energy between 1 and 2 tons of TNT, which gives a mass of around 50 pounds (25 kilograms) for the object causing the fireball (assuming a typical speed of 45,000 miles per hour). It is possible that this event produced meteorites somewhere in the northern Virginia/eastern West Virginia area.”
NASA is still investigating this event. They are looking for more reports and will continue to update. This image below is the flash data from satellite that was picked up over Hardy County corresponding to the fireball.
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Surveillance video from Woodstock did capture a loud sound this morning. We also had other loud booms sent in from Rileyville, VA and Wardensville, WV.
If you do have surveillance video we would appreciate you checking it out from this morning around 10:25 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. to see if you may have captured something on video.
The clouds in place have obstructed the view if it was in fact a meteor, which is the most likely scenario. We are asking for you to check your surveillance video but also looking for any visual reports. This way NASA can determine a trajectory.
If you so have videos, you can upload them here:
If you saw something in the sky this morning or know of someone who may have seen something, you can report it to the American Meteor society. Right now there are two reports of a fireball from Friday morning.
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September 18, 2021 at 12:30AM
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UPDATED: Reports of 'boom' and shaking this morning, most likely a fireball - WHSV
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