Pittsburgh Brought In 2022 With Meteor's Massive Explosion: NASA

Pittsburgh PA

03 January, 2022

3:54 PM

Description

PITTSBURGH, PA — The loud boom heard on New Year's Day in the Pittsburgh area indeed was a meteor entering the atmosphere, according to the NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page. "A nearby infrasound station registered the blast wave from the meteor as it broke apart; the data enabled an estimate of the energy at 30 tons of TNT," a post on the page stated. "If we make a reasonable assumption as to the meteor's speed (45,000 miles per hour), we can ballpark the object's size at about a yard in diameter, with a mass close to half a ton. Had it not been cloudy, the fireball would have been easily visible in the daylight sky - crude estimate indicates about 100 times the brightness of the full moon." Many people notified authorities, who could offer no explanation, about the large bang. Allegheny County 9-1-1 has received reports of a loud boom, shaking in the South Hills and other reports. We have confirmed that there was no seismic activity and no thunder/lightning. At this point, we have no explanation for the reports, but agencies are continuing to look.— Allegheny County (@Allegheny_Co) January 1, 2022 Be the first to know what's happening in your community and region. With a free Patch subscription, you'll always be up to date on local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe.