NASA confirms meteor caused loud boom across Northeast Ohio

It may have shaken your house, or you may have seen its streak shining across the sky Tuesday morning: a meteor that came crashing down to Earth in fragments in Northeast Ohio.

According to the National Weather Service, the loud sonic boom was caused by the meteor.

A NASA spokesperson spoke with reporter Clay LePard, confirming the meteor was spotted near Medina.

"I woke up this morning, and the sky fell, so I feel like Chicken Little right now," Bill Cooke, NASA's lead for the Meteoroid Environment Office, said.

Cooke said the meteor was moving 45,000 mph, "which is fast for a human but slow for a meteor."

According to NASA, the fireball, caused by an asteroid, was nearly 6 feet in diameter and weighed about 7 tons before breaking up into fragments that landed across Medina County.

Dr. Ralph Harvey, a professor specializing in planetary science at Case Western Reserve University, told Clay LePard that the meteors hit the Earth quite often — a couple times a day on average — but it's rare that it traveled over such a populated area.

"It was at a very high altitude when it hit the atmosphere," Harvey said. "This is obviously an object somewhere in the size between an engine block and full blown car that hit the earth's atmosphere heading from north to south and flew over our area."

He said the chances of it hitting something are pretty slim.

"At this moment in time, the people in that area are very lucky people. I hope everybody that goes out on a dog walk or strolling through the fields or the parking lot, I hope they're all keeping their eyes open for a rock that looks out of place," Harvey said. "Rocks can't handle that pressure very well, so it blew up and made this beautiful fireball."

"Don’t go outside and expect to find a smoking rock in a crater," Cooke explained. "That’s not the case. Meteorites, when they hit the ground, are quite cold. You can pick a meteorite up."

Dr. Harvey told News 5 he expects that meteorite hunters will begin to descend on the area where those fragments landed in Medina County.

Reports of the boom were heard from as far west as Norwalk and as far east as Pennsylvania.

According to Cooke, people as far away as Kentucky and Virginia witnessed the fireball.

"The takeaway is sometimes, space comes to you," Cooke said.

Community response

March 17 will likely go down in the history books in Northeast Ohio.

Before the loud bang heard across the region was linked to a sonic boom and meteor, people were guessing, trying to solve the mystery.

"My Ring app kind of started going crazy. All the neighbors were just asking if anybody kind of heard anything or what was going on,” said Deangela Mitchell.

She was at work when it all started. News 5 Anchor Damon Maloney spoke to her while she was at lunch at Don Tequila’s Beer and Tacos in Wickliffe. She said people had all sorts of guesses as to what occurred.

"They were actually guessing that maybe it was an earthquake or, you know, like a transformer had, like, exploded, or something like that— you know, like normal Cleveland stuff,” Mitchell said.

Soon after, videos of the meteor started popping up online. Mitchell’s co-worker, Mitch Hammer, couldn’t believe it.

"And I was like, a meteor in Cleveland? Like, no way,” Hammer said.

Maloney told him experts were stating the meteor was going so fast that it broke up as it entered the atmosphere, and there were likely fragments from it in Medina County.

"Oh, I fully believe it. I fully believe that,” Hammer said. “So hopefully Myles Garrett is OK. You know,” he said jokingly. In case you’re wondering, Garrett lives in that county.

Inside Mary’s Hair Salon in Olmsted Falls, Lisa Goldberg was getting some color and a cut. Before arriving, she was at home in Strongsville and felt a rumble.

"It was very, very loud. I was sitting in a chair in my bedroom, and I thought my window was gonna shatter,” Goldberg said.

“So, did you hear any word? Were you trying to investigate yourself?” Maloney asked her.

"My husband was nearby. I said, ‘What is that, snow thunder?’” Goldberg recalled.

Her husband thought it was possible, but he later messaged her that it was a meteor. Maloney showed her some of the videos the News 5 team collected from viewers because she hadn’t seen any.

“I didn’t know it was like a burning fire,” Goldberg said.

Mary Sekerak owns the salon. She didn’t experience what many others felt and saw.

"I wish I did, though,” Sekerak said. “I would have loved to experience it. I got a text message from my daughter, who lives in West Virginia, asking, ‘Did you feel the meteor?’ And I said, ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about.’”

Sekerak said she feels like she really missed out on something amazing.

But hearing all the buzz has been fun and insightful for many.

"I never knew what it did or where it came from or any of that… so, got some education today,” Sekerak said.

A day many won’t soon forget.

“A memorable St. Patrick's Day?” Maloney asked Hammer.

“A very memorable St. Patrick’s Day,” he responded