A meteor flew over the Statue of Liberty in New York City on Tuesday morning (07/17/2024) and broke up about 30 miles above midtown Manhattan, according to NASA. Residents in the city reported feeling tremors and hearing a loud explosion.
There were no reports of damage or injuries related to the event, the city's Emergency Management Agency confirmed.
The meteor passed over New York City at about 11:15 a.m. – at the same time New Yorkers reported seeing a fiery flash in the sky and feeling a slight shaking of the ground beneath their feet. Specifically, 20 people from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut reported seeing a ball of light streaking across the sky at high speed, with one witness saying it glowed green, yellow and white. The spectacle lasted for 30 seconds before the meteor broke into three pieces, the witness wrote to the American Meteorological Society.
The “bright orb of day” was first spotted about 40 miles (64 kilometers) above New York Harbor's Upper Bay, where the Statue of Liberty is located, according to NASA's Meteor Service.
The meteor, traveling at 34,000 miles per hour, flew along a steep trajectory with an inclination of only 18 degrees. It passed over the Statue of Liberty and dissipated 29 miles above Manhattan, NASA said in a Facebook post.
As for the tremors, experts do not believe they are related to a meteorite or any other natural phenomenon. The U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center confirmed that it had received reports of tremors in northeastern New Jersey and Staten Island in New York, but ruled out the possibility of an earthquake.
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