A meteor broke apart in the sky above New England on Friday, May 30, rattling residents with a loud boom and sending debris into Cape Cod Bay. No injuries were reported.
NASA said in a statement that the object appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire. The energy released when it broke up was equivalent to roughly 300 tons of TNT.
What NASA found
The agency said the meteor fell into the waters of Cape Cod Bay after it disintegrated. That altitude – 40 miles up — meant the bulk of the breakup happened well above the ground, which is likely why there were no reports of structural damage or injuries on the surface.
Most meteors burn up harmlessly before they get far enough into the atmosphere to cause any stir at all. Larger objects, though, can survive the descent long enough to produce the kind of bright fireballs and shock waves that turn heads across several states at once. Friday’s event was one of those.
CBS News, citing the NASA statement, first reported the agency’s findings. The boom was heard across parts of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, though NASA didn’t specify exactly which communities reported the noise.
NASA hasn’t said whether any fragments were recovered from Cape Cod Bay or whether a recovery effort is planned.
Reporting based on BBC News coverage published June 1, 2026. Read the original report.
